Our Lives Are Strange: Requiem
by Bl4ckHunter
Summary: I thought it was over when one of my closest friends had sacrificed her life to save my hometown. I had moved on with my life and settled down with my family but somehow I got another chance to go back to the day she had died. Why? Maybe there is another option… but what happens with my family if I change things? Will I see my daughter again? Sequel to "OUR LIVES ARE STRANGE".
1. Prologue

_**Author's Note:** This sequel is going to be shorter than it's predecessor, so forgive me if you do not find it as much exciting as my previous fanfiction novel. This fanfiction novel is inspired by a 2001 Canadian film_ " _ **Another Day**_ ".

* * *

 _ **Prologue**_

 _Lone Ranch Beach, Oregon, 2016_

Abby saw her little Chloe play with her childhood friend Max and another friend, Kate, building sandcastles on the shore as she was tanning with her best friend Christine and another of her friends Dana. She was glad that after so many years Max is finally happy again. It's been hard for her, ever since she had to sacrifice another of their childhood friends and her closest best friend, Chloe.

Meanwhile Christine's twin sister Cassie, Brooke, Max's boyfriend Warren, Victoria, who Abby had hated to the core until she saw a better side of her after Chloe's death, which she did not expect, her friend Taylor and Juliet were playing volleyball a few feet from them, quite enjoying themselves. Abby's older brother, Ronald and her boyfriend Ian were preparing a boat, so that they could go on a little trip to the ocean.

Abby's daughter Chloe was overjoyed to go to the sea.

 _My little baby… she means so much to me._ Abby had named her Chloe Rachel Powell, after her former best friend and a girl who she had loved beyond so many things. Max has grown fond of Abby's daughter… Abby knew that after what Max'd been through and what she had to do to save them all, she needed someone to give her some emotional support and a reason to believe again. Even though Abby and Ronald and Warren had tried to comfort her, it was only after her baby was born, she finally found a reason to be happy once again, not only because Abby named her daughter after Max's best friend, who she loved and cared for a lot but because she also named Max a legal guardian of Abby's daughter in case no one of Powell's family would not be able to look after Chloe anymore.

 _She could have named anyone…_ Ian was surprised his girlfriend did not choose Joyce but Abby thought if he knew what had Max and her gone through, he'd understand. But Abby had no intention to tell anything to anyone else about what had happened to all of us in the alternate timeline where Max saved Chloe.

Somehow Max is able to rewind time back a few moments and however her power works, it does not affect Abby. She does not rewind back with others so she remembers what had happened prior to Max's rewind but she does not have these powers. Max can also travel back through time by focusing on her photographs.

What Abby had was something different but definitely not better than what Max had. Abby had premonitions about what would happen to her and her friends and what she had seen was never good and combined with her PTSD from being a victim of an attempted rape those visions almost tore her up.

It all started when some sick friend of Frank Bowers, an Arcadia Bay's drug dealer, tried to rape Abby and almost killed Ian. Ronald beat him up but ended up in juvie for a couple of months. That day has been haunting her ever since… but Abby hasn't had a PTSD panic attack for a long time… actually not since her daughter was born.

Abby struggled with her and Max remembering everything they've been through together with Chloe, Ronald, Ian and Christine and Cassie while everyone else does not… but in the end she decided they were all better off not knowing. It would be too much to take in anyway.

Soon enough Ronald and Ian called Abby, Chloe and Max to come over to the pedal boat they had rented for them. Max picked up Chloe and took her to the boat.

"You want to go see the sea, honey?" Max asked Chloe in an adoring tone.

"Swimming and fishing, Auntie Max!" Chloe clapped her hands, smiling.

They all had to laugh. _Why does my baby have to be so cute?_ "No, we're not going to go fishing, honey." Abby fondled Chloe by her hair. "We don't have fishing rods. But next time if you want, we will." Chloe nodded as Ronald put on her a floating ring and Abby's best friend Christine went aboard.

As they were leaving the shore, Chloe waved her hands happily on Abby's friends, as they waved back.

"Hello!"

"Hey, Chloe!" Victoria smiled.

"Be careful out there!" Dana called out.

 _At least this is not a surfing race and there are no waves today_. Abby thought as Max, Christine and Ian jumped into the water with Chloe.

Once Max went back in time, trying to save Chloe' father William and prevent his death in a car accident in 2008 but in that timeline, Abby died in a failed surfing race when she hit her head on the rock.

Ever since her father's death, Chloe had been hard time dealing with her life, filled with so much anger, so much sorrow… she even ran away from Joyce and when she came back, neither Ronald or Abby did not even recognize her anymore… they had tried to reach her but when she kept getting into trouble with cops, in the end Abby thought that for her and Chloe's own sake it might be best to keep her distance. She thought Chloe was past any of her was a mistake she's been regretting her whole life because this was one of the reasons Chloe became a rebellious teenager who kept getting into trouble. Max and Abby were replaced by another girl in Chloe's life… and one of the most popular girls in Blackwell Academy… Rachel Amber, after who Abby had given her daughter her middle name.

She was not only Chloe's best friend when Max left and Abby had distanced herself from her but she was a love of her life. And then suddenly… she was taken away from her. By the boy Ronald, Christine, Cassie and Abby had hated and a very dangerous individual. Nathan Prescott. A spoiled boy from Prescott's family which owned their hometown, Arcadia Bay and his father, Sean Prescott had deep pockets and a lot of influence, making sure that any of Nathan's activities which would tarnish their family name, would be swept away.

But sooner or later, justice will catch up with everyone one day. Abby wished it did not cost her, Ronald and Max their former best friend… and a sister. Nathan was drugging and abducting Blackwell girl students and taking them to the art teacher, who was secretly a sick psychopath, and about who they all had thought was a good man. Who they trusted. Mark Jefferson. He was taking some sick photos of all those poor girls… including Kate… and Cassie and Christine were his intended targets. _Son of a bitch_.

He killed Chloe and Victoria in another timeline until Max fixed things... and had to sacrifice a girl they had loved… who was their family… to save them all. Nathan also unintentionally killed Rachel Amber while trying to duplicate Jefferson's work and gave her an overdose.

When Max saved Chloe, she changed things… this caused a butterfly effect and initially a tornado was coming towards Arcadia Bay. In order to stop it and save everyone, Chloe asked Max to let her make the ultimate sacrifice, and let Chloe die on that day.

But Max and Chloe were not the only ones dealing with trouble while the Powell siblings helped them investigate Nathan.

In the meantime, Ian came back into Abby's life and tried to mend up things with me and Ronald but he had gotten into a lot of trouble with dangerous mobsters. He helped police take down most of them but the ones that slipped were still after him and they tried to use Abby as leverage. Luckily her brother and Ian saved her before they could inflict on her any permanent damage.

Even though Chloe's sacrifice undid all that mess they had to go through, the scars on her and Max's souls remain. They both still remember, while everyone else does not…

But something else woke Abby up from her contemplation. It was her daughter, crying out for her mother.

"Mommy! I can't move!" Abby noticed Chloe was frantically waving her hands while Max was trying to calm her down.

"It's going to be OK, Chloe, just stay still!"

"Chloe! Just try to keep your head above water!" Abby cried out as she dived underwater. Chloe's leg was trapped in seaweed. Abby tried to get her daughter loose but suddenly she felt pain in her chest. The kind of pain she had not felt in years… _it was like if I was being stabbed by multiple daggers but the water… it did not taste salty, no… was it… chlorine?_

* * *

For a few moments, her vision was blurred and when it became clearer, she felt pressure on her chest as she coughed out the water.

"Chloe! Where's Chloe?" Abby managed to cry out.

"Chloe? She was expelled few months back, or have you forgotten?" Abby heard Christine's voice near her ear.

If she wasn't still coughing out water, she'd yell at her. In her mind was at first. " _I'm not talking about Chloe Price, I'm talking about my little baby girl!_ " But as she let the words sink in, she realized something as she looked around. Tiled floor, a pool right on her right, around her girls with swimsuits looking at Abby with worry and Christine holding her shoulder and when she could look at her closely… she looked younger... and her swimsuit… and Abby's swimsuit….

Then she realized it. _I'm back. I'm back to the day when Chloe Price died._


	2. Saving Chloe

_**Saving Chloe**_

 _Blackwell Academy Swimming Pool, Monday, 7th October 2013_

The following moments were déja vu to Abby. ' _It starts to get annoying when you relive the moment for the second or third time_.' Abby thought. The Personal Health Teacher Edwards blew the whistle as the girls covered their ears.

"Alright, we're cancelling the training today! Christine, you take Abigail to the nurse, the rest of you, girls, to the showers!" He clapped his hands.

"You scared the shit out of us, Abby. I thought you were not going to make it." Christine hugged Abby tightly. While Abby had gotten used to her best friend giving her such hugs in the following years when she together with Cassie were helping Abby and Ian raise their daughter but Abby was uncertain about how to feel at the moment, so she just awkwardly patted Christine by her back.

"It's OK, Chris. I've had to recover from worse." Christine chuckled at that, probably assuming the rape incident. ' _If she had any idea what had I gone through with her, Ronald, Cassie and Max and Chloe…_ '

Edwards apologized to Abby. "I'm so sorry, Abigail. I will check the safety ropes next time. This should not have happened."

Abby coughed out some water. "I… I'm fine, Coach."

"Are you sure? I think you should see the nurse."

Then Abby suddenly remembered. ' _In about ten minutes Nathan is gonna kill Chloe. I know that she is supposed to die but… if I'm back again and I have the chance to stop it… how can I just stand by and let one of my best friends at the hands of that maniac? And poor Nathan… Why am I back?_ '

Another thought hit her. ' _What about Ian? What about my daughter? How am I gonna get back to them?_ ' But then she realized she needed to play along as she has been staring at him for a little longer than it might have been expected from her.

"I… to be honest… I'm still a little in shock." Abby almost forgot what did she tell him right after she recovered from the CPR. Coach Edwards nodded. "Of course. I understand. Just… promise me that you will let someone examine you today."

' _Why the hell is this happening?_ '

Christine grabbed Abby's arm. "C'mon. Let's hit the shower and get the fuck out of here." Abby followed her and stripped her swimsuit. As Abby turned on the hot water and enjoy the shower, all she could think about was her family. In the alternate future. ' _My little baby… how does she have to feel without her mother?_ ' Abby didn't even realize she was crying until she felt arms enveloping her and Christine's gentle voice in her ear.

"It's OK, Abby. It's OK."

But then Abby heard the deep voice of that man. Jack Brown. She felt that strong, ungentle grip on her arms again as she heard her heart pound rapidly again and she was choking out, while the girls were messing around.

"Hey, that's not funny, Jane! Give me back my shirt!" Allison yelled.

"Come get it! Hey!" Sarah snatched the shirt from Jane's hand as she pointed at Abby.

"Do you think this is the best time to screw around?"

"Breathe, Abby, breathe…" Christine had in her eyes again that worrying look, trying to comfort her best friend but for a brief second, in front of Abby flashed how did Chloe die in her arms after Nathan killed her and Jack hitting Abby after which she slipped on the floor.

Christine squeezed Abby's hand as she curled to the ball. "Abby. It's OK. Breathe, breathe… 100, 99, 98, 97, 96…"

"…95, 94, 93, 92…" After a few moments Abby managed to calm down and steady her breathing. "Shit." Abby wiped her face as she was still curled on the floor, bare naked, as she let the hot water stream down her skin. Abby quickly got up and wrapped her towel around herself, going to her locker.

"Are you OK, Abby?" Allison asked.

' _No, I'm fucking not OK. I have a PTSD thanks to a drunk asshole friend of a drug dealer almost raping me and a gangster hitting me and almost making me his prostitute._ ' Abby bit her tongue and sighed. "Honestly… I don't see how am I gonna be OK after that."

Allison nodded in understanding as Sarah came to Abby. "I think you need to see a nurse. I… we just don't wanna see this mess tear you up."

Abby had to chuckle at that. "Believe me. It's gonna take more than that to make me a fucking wreck." She put on her shirt and jeans. Everybody in the shower room laughed.

"At least you still have your sense your humor."

"Ron's gonna freak out when he hears about this." Christine said.

"I bet he will." Abby nodded. Right now all that was in her mind was her former best friend dying in her arms. Luckily Abby had years to deal with that but she still had to clench her teeth for a few seconds to not to let the sorrow and trauma take her over again.

Abby knew that if she prevented Chloe's death, she would probably doom her hometown but she was unwilling to stand by and let that happen. "I'm just gonna grab my stuff from my locker and then I'll see the nurse."

Christine nodded in understanding. Abby tried to act casually as she walked from the pool to the main building as fast and as normally as she could. When she came towards the entrance, she swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Here came the hard part. Walking down the hall, while others glance at her with worrying looks.

' _Here we go._ ' Abby opened the door, straightened herself and walked down, trying to look normal with others look at her concerned. But then she saw Kate sitting depressed in Jefferson's classroom and Max rushing into the bathroom and Abby got another flashback, of her in the bathroom, begging Chloe to stay alive and being dragged away by her brother and the medics. Abby clenched her teeth, while sniffing and trying to hold back tears as she leaned to the lockers and counting down in her head. " _100, 99, 98, 97…_ "

The school journalist Juliet noticed Abby and tried to comfort her. "You OK, Abby?"

Abby just shook her head. "I… I don't see how can I ever be again…."

"Abby… you're not alone in this. It's OK. I'm here for you. So are your friends." Juliet held Abby's hand.

"Thanks, Jules." Abby nodded and smiled as Juliet left her. She realized that in a few moments her brother tries to check in on her, with Nathan and Chloe going into the bathroom and that critical moment happening.

Abby quickly and quietly went into the bathroom, so Max would not notice her and hid in the bathroom stall. She made sure she hid in the last one in the row so that Chloe would not check it and waited until Nathan went in panicked and leaned to the sink.

"It's cool, Nathan. Don't stress out, you're the boss…" Abby then heard the door open again. It was Chloe. Abby shed out tears and sniffed quietly, hearing Chloe's voice again after all these years.

"I hope you checked the perimeter, as my step-ass would say. Now, let's talk bidness."

"I got nothing for you." Nathan talked back.

"Wrong. You got hella cash." Abby took a deep breath as she missed Chloe's attitude and all her memories were coming back, spending time with Chloe in the car park, in her house, in Blackwell in the night...

Her heart started to race quickly again as she also remembered Chloe dying in her arms, while listening to that dreadful conversation once again. Now she knew how Max must have felt and how hard it must have been for her to decide to leave Chloe to die. But something clicked in Abby's mind.

' _Maybe there's another option._ ' She thought. She knew she was probably risking not only her life but of her daughter as well as if Abby would die, it would mean her little daughter would never be born. But she couldn't live with the thought of standing aside and leaving Chloe to die again.

What is the point of going back in time again if she just watches her friend die all over again? She knew saving her would mean dooming a town full of people.

' _Somebody has to pay the price. And in no way in hell I'm gonna let Chloe or Arcadia Bay pay it._ ' Abby took a deep breath and waited for her opportunity.

"You don't know who the fuck I am or who you're messing around with!" Nathan yelled, pulling out his gun. Abby covered her mouth and let out a silent sob but taking a deep breath, with her heart beating more and more rapidly.

"Where'd you get that? What you doing? Come on, put that thing down!" Abby heard Chloe's horrified tone.

"Don't ever tell me what to do! I'm so sick of people trying to control me!"

"You are going to get into hella more trouble for this than drugs…"

' _Almost…_ '

"Nobody would ever even miss your punk ass, would they?"

' _That's my cue._ ' Abby thought, prepared. She burst out from the stall and shouted at the top of her lungs, not realizing she was paraphrasing Chloe.

"Get the hell away from her, you psycho!"

The following moments were almost in slow-motion. Nathan turned around with his gun and his gun fired. But what Abby saw was her brother and Ian fighting Jack Brown and Jack pushing Ronald from the window as she stumbled and fell on the floor.


	3. Panic Attack

_**Panic Attack**_

Chloe was certain she was dead until she felt at least some relief when a familiar voice cried out, trying to help her. But as Nathan turned around and fired his gun, Chloe realized that the girl was giving herself a death sentence by helping her like that. The girl stumbled, covering her head and a loud gunshot made her ears ringing but the screaming that followed… Chloe would recognize that scream anywhere. There were moments when she had to comfort one of her closest friends when she was going through a PTSD.

"AAAAGH! AAAAAHHH!"

"Abby!" Chloe exclaimed.

Nathan covered his mouth when he realized he aimed his gun at the girl who has been suffering from PTSD and a younger sister of a security guard who has a beef with him. "Holy shit!"

Chloe glared at Nathan and pushed him away from her, running to her former friend, who was currently having a panic attack, violently shaking her arms around and screaming hysterically. Chloe had seen Abby's PTSD episodes first-hand just once and she saw how did Ronald comfort his sister, trying to calm Abby down as she held her hands.

"Abby! It's OK, it's OK!"

"No! Get away! Get away!" Abby screamed.

"Abby, it's me! It's Chloe!"

But Abby violently shook herself off Chloe's grip and covered her head, crying out hysterically. "NO! YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD!"

"Abby! I'm not dead! And you're not either!" Chloe was desperately trying to come up with anything to console her. She wished Ronald was here with her and a few moments enough she got her wish when he ran into the bathroom with David.

"What the hell is going on here?" David yelled.

Ronald instantly noticed Chloe trying to calm down his sister. "Abby!"

Chloe reacted instantly as she looked at him with a desperate look. "Ron, I don't know what to do…" Ronald ran to them and held Abby's hands, squeezing them increasingly, while she desperately tried to cover her face, breaking down completely.

"It's OK. Breathe. Breathe. It's OK. 100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95…" Usually Ronald had to go down to 80 at least but this time it he had to go down to 50 before Abby could calm down and just sob out. Nathan was still lying on the ground, just idly looking at the situation, not believing what has he done.

"Chloe! What happened here?" David demanded in an authoritative tone, in his eyes confusion.

Chloe had almost completely forgotten about Nathan when she saw him getting up, in his eyes disbelief as he trembled. Chloe pointed at him. "Nathan. He has a gun! He almost shot her!" Chloe gasped out.

Ronald turned around and gave Nathan a fierce, spiteful glare as Nathan raised his hands, in his eyes instant regret. "I didn't… I didn't mean to do it…"

Ronald went towards Nathan, full of relentless rage and grabbed him by his throat, strangling him. "You almost shot my sister, you son of a bitch!" Nathan's face was quickly turning blue as Ronald pinned him to the wall but David pulled Ronald away.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Get off him!" More guards ran into the bathroom. David gave them orders. "Take him into the interrogation room!" He pointed at Nathan as the guards cuffed him and dragged him out of the bathroom. Then he turned to Chloe, full of disappointment and confusion. "And you. You and I, we need to talk."

Ronald intervened. "No. I'll talk with her _and_ take my sister to the nurse. You can sort this out with her later." David and Chloe nodded as the medics were about to rush in.

"No one was injured but my sister needs someone to look at her." The medics nodded and they put Abby on a stretcher, taking her to the nurse. But as Abby was going out of the bathroom, she saw Mr. Jefferson looking at her and then a whole new wave of panic took her over as she covered her head and screamed hysterically. "Get away from me, you monster! No!"

The medics stopped and held Abby on the stretcher. "Abby!"

"Don't let him take me! Don't let him take me!"

"Nobody's gonna hurt you, Abby, nobody's gonna hurt you!" Ronald and Chloe held Abby's shoulders as the medics sedated her and she calmed down.

The gathered students watched in shock as the girl who had just almost drowned in the swimming pool was being taken away by the medics from the bathroom where the gunshots went out. Christine gasped in horror as she ran to Abby, Kate covered her mouth in disbelief while crying as Dana held her arms from behind. After a few moments the sedative took effect and Abby drifted away in peaceful sleep as the medics took her to the nurse's office.

What no one realized that there was somebody else watching the entire situation, hiding behind the stalls. When Max came out of the stalls, she wiped her tears and in her mind was only one single thought.

" _What have you done, Abby?_ "


	4. Recovering

_**Recovering**_

Nathan was in an interrogation room with David who glared at him and a police officer Tracy Parker, an old friend of the Powell siblings whom they and David trusted and also was one of the officers who helped Abby after the rape incident and luckily was not on Prescott's payroll. The entire time Nathan was staring at the table, not saying a word but in his mind were countless thoughts.

 _'I almost killed another innocent girl… I can't just let that slide… Her brother's gonna kill me if HE won't…'_

But as David spoke up, his line of thoughts were suddenly interrupted.

"Now you and I both know that your father is not going to help you walk away from this just like if nothing happened. If you want to make this as easy for you as possible, I'd suggest you'd come clean with us right now, boy."

Nathan was still not saying anything yet as he just stared at the table. Meanwhile David asked a few of the guards, who he trusted and were not in Prescott's pockets to stall Nathan's lawyers. Tracy sighed. "You know, be glad that I am doing this conversation with you and not Ronald. It was his sister you almost shot."

 _'I know… I almost had another death on my conscience… I didn't mean to…_ ' Nathan let out a sob as the sudden torrent of shame and remorse went through his body.

"If you want to make this right, please, just tell us what happened." David tried to be as reasonable as he could at the moment, considering that his stepdaughter could have been the victim in the bathroom incident.

Nathan nodded. "That girl and I… we were supposed to meet in the bathroom… she wanted to talk about…" Nathan swallowed hard as in front of him flashed the body of Rachel Amber who he buried in the junkyard and Ronald choking the life out of him. He could not take the thought of having blood of another innocent girl on his hands and right now he wasn't sure if he should be more afraid of Ronald or of _him_...

"Talk about what?" Tracy asked.

"I didn't mean to do it…" Nathan sobbed out as he buried his face in his hands, still hearing _his voice_ telling him what to do with all those girls... but he kept seeing _her face_ in front of him….

"I believe you didn't." David said patiently. "Just tell me what happened."

But Nathan started to mumble over and over. "I killed her… I killed her… I killed her…"

"You didn't kill her." Tracy tried to calm Nathan down as she held his shoulders, like if she was trying to comfort her own son. "She's still alive…"

But Nathan broke down completely. "No… She's dead… Rachel is dead…" At the mentioning of that name a chill went through David's spine as he froze completely, as Tracy slowly turned at him and they both looked at each other's eyes with disbelief.

* * *

"It was a severe PTSD. Maybe even worse than…" Nurse Barenchi paused as Ronald nodded in understanding. Abby was quietly sleeping on the nurse's stretcher, being on medication as Chloe sat next to her, holding her hand.

' _I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to drag you into this… this is all my fault… how are you going to recover from this…_ ' Chloe thought as she held back her tears.

"First the drowning and now this…" Ronald sighed, worried about his sister's psychological state.

"She's going to need all the support she can get." Nurse Barenchi said. And a few moments later someone knocked on the door. Ronald opened the door as it were Abby's friends at the doorstep.

"How is she?" Kate asked.

"She's sleeping right now."

"Can we come in?"

"Sure thing, Max." Chloe instantly turned her head to the doorstep as she heard Max's name.

"Chloe?" Max gasped, frozen in place instantly.

"Max…" Chloe let out another torrent of tears as both of them awkwardly stared at each others for a few moments, until Max ran to Chloe, burying her head into Chloe's shoulder and wrapping her arms around her with bear strength.

"Oh God, I thought you were… that you were…" Max stammered out while Chloe just had her mouth opened speechless. Ronald smiled for a few seconds, until it faded away, realizing how dreadful the circumstances of their reunion had to be. The floodgates of the emotions Max had been holding back while preparing to let Chloe die opened as she cried out. "God, I'm so sorry for everything. Leaving you after William, not contacting you, not letting you know that I'm back… I'm such a shitty best friend, Chloe! Please don't hate me!"

For a few seconds Chloe still could not believe that her best friend was back in her life until she got a hold of herself and returned the hug, trying to mend her fences with Max.

"I… I… I don't hate you, Max… I'm glad you're back… I really am…"

After a long moment of letting out the emotions held back for five years, Chloe started to speak up as Ronald patiently stood there while Dana whispered to Ronald. " _They know each other?_ "

"We all grew up together." Ronald answered. "But… soon after Chloe's dad died, Max had to move with her parents to Seattle. Chloe never got completely over it and… it was kinda hard for all of us."

Christine nodded in agreement as Kate started to pray both for Abby's welfare and her, Max's and Ronald's friendship with Chloe. But somebody then came to the doorstep. Detective Tracy showed up her badge and gestured Ronald to come to her.

"We have a problem." Tracy said.

Ronald sighed. "What excuse did his lawyer come up with to drag my sister through the mud?"

"Not that, Ronald." Tracy shook her head. "It's… Nathan confessed to…." She paused when she noticed Chloe was coming out the door to with Max.

"To what?"

Tracy lowered her voice so that only Ronald would hear her. "He buried Rachel Amber in the junkyard."

Ronald gasped out, his mouth wide open.


	5. Old Wounds

_**Old Wounds**_

"He what?" Ronald hissed, after he recovered from the initial shock and his blood started to boil increasingly. ' _First he almost killed my sister and now Rachel? I'm gonna kill you, you sick fuck…_ ' Ronald clenched his fists.

"He broke down in tears and spilled out that he accidently OD'd Rachel and buried her in the junkyard. I told Andy Berry to get a search team to look into the junkyard. Ten minutes ago he called me that they found a corpse of a girl. They are doing an autopsy as we speak."

"Son of a bitch…" Ronald growled. "No way Sean Prescott's gonna give get him a ' _get out of jail free card_ ' this time."

Tracy nodded as she smirked, pulling out her recorder. "I've got his confession right here. Before his lawyer got his hands on him, he spilled the beans."

Ronald chuckled and high-fived with Tracy. "Nicely done, sister." She together with officer Berry looked after Abby when Ronald was in juvie and checked in on her as a favor to him. But when he noticed that Tracy bit her lip, he knew there was something she held back.

"I hear a ' _but_ ' coming…"

"There might be… more…"

"What?" Ronald asked, his moment of joy ruined.

"Look, I don't know the details because the other cops took over the interrogation later on but… apparently he and Jefferson were in cahoots in some shady business…"

Ronald blinked in surprise. "Mark Jefferson? The art teacher here in Blackwell?"

Tracy nodded. "Like I said, I don't know the details but by the time Nathan ratted Jefferson out and we put out a BOLO on him, he wasn't at school anymore but we found some… nasty stuff in his house."

"What nasty stuff?" Ronald demanded, trying to understand what was going on. ' _Why would Jefferson involve himself with Nathan into something illegal?_ '

"I don't know all the details but in his house were drugs and…" Tracy swallowed. "…some binders with sick pictures of the girls here at Blackwell."

"What do you mean?" Ronald clenched his fists.

"I said I don't know all the details…" Tracy sighed. "… but I do know this. This is bigger than we had initially thought it was and among the potential victims may have been Abby, the Masters twin sister and the Marsh girl."

Ronald gasped as he instantly remembered the Vortex Club party where Kate was on a viral video, kissing some random girls, while wasted. Ronald suspected that Nathan had drugged Kate but he had no way of proving it and the Vortex Club party last year, after which Cassie dropped out of Blackwell after that incident with Nathan.

"Son of a bitch." Ronald growled.

"Yeah, I know." Tracy nodded. "Nathan told us that he drugged her at that party. My friend from here at Blackwell sent me the link to the video. I just couldn't believe that a devoted Christian girl would do such thing. I knew there were drugs involved but if it was Prescott's doing…"

Ronald nodded. "I'm gonna kill…"

Tracy instantly grabbed his hand and used a motherly tone. "Ronald. Don't. Or this time you'll get at least 25 years instead of six months."

Ronald sighed and calmed down. "I know. I just… it's a lot to take in…"

Tracy nodded in understanding. As Ronald turned around, he realized that Chloe and Max were looking at him the entire time. ' _Sooner or later I'll have to tell Chloe the truth. Rachel was her best friend after we'd kept our distance from her but… right now they have enough shit do deal with._ '

"Is everything OK, Ron?" Chloe asked.

Ronald just stood there, saying nothing. At the moment Abby and her friends had more than enough on their plate. "Don't worry about that right now, girls." He returned back to them, waiting for Abby to wake up.

* * *

Mark Jefferson drove into the Prescott's barn, intending to get into his secret photo studio but when he was punching the code into the entrance, he heard the sirens in the distance. Jefferson quickly opened the door and locked himself inside his Dark Room.

The police called in specialists to decipher the code and when they managed to get in, Jefferson was ready for them with a hand-made Molotov cocktail, using flammable chemicals for making his photos.

"Drop it! Drop the bottle!" Officer Berry yelled.

"You are not going to stop me!" Jefferson threw the bottle at the officers but accidentally hitting a nearby lamp and the burning chemicals engulfed the art teacher in flames as he screamed in pain.

* * *

A few moments later Abby woke up on the stretcher, as the other girls were talking together and catching up. She looked at the girl with blue hair, black jacket, ripped jeans and a beanie and she gasped out. " _Chloe…_ "

Everybody turned around and relief coursed through them as they saw Abby alright. But Abby's eyes started to fill with tears as she got up and ran to Chloe, hugging her tightly, while in her mind resurfaced how did she hold Chloe's lifeless body in her arms in the bathroom.

"I… I thought you were dead… but you're here…" Abby broke down.

"No. I'm not." Chloe patted her by her shoulder. "And I still cannot believe it, you hella saved my life, _Abba Kadabra_." Chloe chuckled. But it was like if Abby did not even listen to her, all she could do was let out another torrent of her emotions, as she pulled herself as close to Chloe as possible. Again in her mind resurfaced how did she beg Chloe to stay alive in the bathroom in the original timeline. As soon as Abby could get a hold of herself, she let Chloe go, also thinking about her daughter in the original timeline.

"Wowser, I thought you'd lost your mind, Abby." Max sighed with relief. "You almost let that nutcase kill you." Max glared at Abby fiercely and Abby had a _very, very good idea_ why.

As Max said her sentence, Chloe realized that too as she let Abby go, her eyes could tell she was scared to death and white as a sheet. "Yeah. I mean, no offense but… I almost thought you were gonna have a mental breakdown. I've never seen anyone flip out like that before, not even you… I mean not that I'd be surprised after Nathan almost shot you but… what the hell happened to you? You acted like if you'd seen a hella scary ghost when you saw me. You almost did not even recognize me."

Abby sighed, wiping her face with her hands as she looked down for a few moments, thinking again about her boyfriend and her unborn daughter. _Maybe I cannot get back to them in my timeline but if I do this right, maybe I can find a way so that Ian would return to me again and my baby will be born again._

"Kate, Dana?" She glanced at them. "Could you leave us for a moment? There is something I wanna discuss _just with them._ " She looked at her brother and her two former best friends and her _current_ best friend. Kate and Dana looked at each other awkwardly but they nodded and left Abby alone with Christine, Max, Ronald and Chloe as she sat back on the stretcher and took a deep breath.

"I… You are all gonna think I'm nuts."


	6. The Truth - Part 1

**_The Truth – Part 1_**

"What's going on, Abby?" Chloe asked, her eyes blinking in confusion.

"Chloe, I… I don't even know where to begin…" Then Abby looked at Max. "Max… I… I'm gonna need your help. Please." For a few moments Max gave Abby a scornful look but she nodded, realizing Abby needed her help if she was supposed to explain the situation.

"Look, guys…" Abby wiped her face. "…this isn't the first time Max and I were reliving this day."

"What?" Ronald opened his mouth widely.

"I… Look. The first time, Max and I had a weird dream, both of us… we were on a cliff where was the lighthouse, you know the place…" Everyone nodded. "In that dream a tornado was coming towards Arcadia Bay on October 11th, 2013."

"This Friday?" Christine asked.

"Let us finish." Max raised her hand. "Just listen… When the dream ended, I woke up in Jefferson's class, a little freaked out."

"And I was resuscitated by Coach Edwards in the pool."

"That nightmare you had during the swimming class…" Christine gasped in realization as Abby nodded.

"After that, I went into the bathroom and there I saw a blue butterfly on the cleaning cart behind the stalls." Max continued. "Then I saw Nathan entering the bathroom and a few moments later you came in too..." She looked at Chloe "…of course, at that moment I did not recognize you because… it's been a while." Max's cheeks reddened as she felt awkwardly and Chloe had to chuckle a bit. "And I heard about the drugs and money and then Nathan pulled a gun at you and I saw you…" Max stopped there and started to cry, clenching her fists and her nails digging deep into her skin, almost making her hands bleed.

Everyone gasped as Abby covered her mouth and let out a quite sob.

"Oh my God." Chloe gasped out as tears fell down her cheeks while she covered her mouth.

After both Max and Abby got a hold of themselves, Abby began to tell her part. "When I had that dream, I almost drowned."

Then it hit Christine. "That's why you cried out Chloe's name!" She exclaimed as she snapped her fingers, widening her eyes in realization.

Abby had to chuckle. _Not exactly._ "Well, you're not far from the truth, Chris but let me finish, please." Christine nodded.

"When I recovered from the drowning, I was gonna go to my locker in the main building to get my stuff and then go rest to the dorm but Ronald caught me at the fountain near the Girl's Bathroom. We talked for a moment until I saw Nathan…" Abby glanced at Chloe. "… and then you walked down the corridor and then a few moments later we heard a gunshot go off from the Girl's Bathroom. Ron and I burst in and we saw Nathan holding a gun and you… you were bleeding and…" Abby buried her fingers deeper into the mattress of the stretcher as the tears threatened to prick down again.

Ronald hugged his sister as he comforted her. Max sobbed into Chloe's shoulders, remembering Chloe's death far too well as Chloe choked out, not believing nor understanding the situation and the tears were threatening to spill out from her eyes. As everyone recovered, Christine spoke up, looking at Max and Abby with sympathy and confusion.

"I… I don't understand… What do you mean?"

"Both of Max and I were able to go back in time somehow… and Max saved you, Chloe, from Nathan but…" In front of Abby's eyes flashed all the traumatic events of that awful week. _Kate's suicide attempt and Abby herself almost falling off the rooftop, sneaking into Blackwell and getting dreadful premonitions in there and in Chloe's house, kidnapping by Jack Brown, the flooded basement, the surfing race in the alternate timeline in which she died and the car crash when Max wanted to save Chloe but leave all people of Arcadia Bay to die._

Ronald squeezed Abby's shoulders and hugged her tightly, trying to comfort her. "It's OK, Abby. It's OK. Talk to us, what happened?"

But Abby was in no state to tell anything else at the moment, so Max continued. "I can somehow turn back time. It does not affect Abby, somehow she still remembers. I used it to save you all, so many times but…" Max looked at everyone. "I fucked it all up."

"How?" Chloe asked Max, trying to understand.

"Every time I tried to save you all and fix things by going back in time, I just made it all worse instead..." Max's eyes were full of regret as she looked at Chloe.

"The butterfly effect." Christine realized as Max nodded, gasping out before getting a hold of herself.

"In the end, I was the one who caused the storm and you realized that the only way to _really save you all_ was to… was to…" Max was unable to continue as she looked at Chloe ashamed of herself and buried her face into Chloe's shoulders and everyone widened their eyes with disbelief and realization.

Neither Christine or Ronald were certain of how to react and all they both could think of was to comfort their friends. Ronald hugged his sister as tightly as possible and Christine came to Max and Chloe, patting them both by their backs. The moment of hurt and comfort lasted for a few minutes but it seemed like an eternity before Chloe finally spoke up.

"But I don't understand… if you had to leave me to die… then why…"

"She did leave you to die…" Abby interrupted her and everyone looked at her, confused, once again. "In the end, Nathan killed you and ended up in jail but…" Abby wiped her face and sighed as she held to the stretcher, remembering the abduction and the rape. "…there's more."

Ronald already suspected the answer. "Let me guess – Mark Jefferson?"

Both Max and Abby looked surprised at Ronald. "How do you know that?"

"Detective Parker just told me that Nathan confessed to being in cahoots with Jefferson in some sick business. They found in Jefferson's house drugs and some nasty photos of girl students here at Blackwell." What Ronald had not realized that he unintentionally triggered a PTSD flashback in Max as she breathed rapidly and Chloe and Christine looked at her worried.

"Max? You OK?"

Ronald quickly turned to her and both him and Christine grabbed her by her arms as they realized what was happening to her. "Max. It's OK. Breathe, breathe. Come back with us. 100, 99, 98, 97, 96…"

"95, 94, 93, 92…" Max counted down with Christine before she steadied her breath.

"Max? You scared the hell out of me." Chloe looked at her with fear in her eyes.

"I… I'm fine, really." Max managed to let out after she could breathe normally.

"Max…" Ronald gave her an apologetic look when he realized she also must have been a victim of Jefferson's sick games. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." He hugged her as she started to cry. "He… he did that to you too?"

Max just nodded, not being able to speak about it as Ronald caressed her back. "It's OK, Max. It's OK. Shhh."

Chloe came to Max too, hugging her tightly and comforting her. "Max… you're here with us now… it's OK. Nobody's gonna hurt you anymore."

Christine then realized something as Ronald let Max go. "Wait a moment. Last year at the party when Nathan tried to drug my sister…" Ronald nodded as she breathed out. "Oh, Jesus Christ."

Ronald also realized why was Abby freaking out when she saw Mr. Jefferson when she was pulled away from the bathroom by the medics.

"But… I don't understand… you said you wanted to leave me to die… so why am I…" Chloe was still confused.

"She did leave you to die, Chloe." Abby replied. "Ronald and I rushed in when the gunshot went off and we saw you …" Abby remembered Chloe dying in her arms in the bathroom as another wave of sadness took her over.

"Abby…" Chloe said with a tone full of pity as she came to her, kneeling down and laying a hand on her leg..

"I held you in my arms, Chloe! You died! Right in front of me!" Abby again hugged Chloe tightly. "I'm so sorry, Chloe!" Chloe realized why did Abby yell out that Chloe was dead when she tried to calm her down back in the bathroom and her eyes started to fill with tears.

Nobody had any idea how to comfort Max or Abby. Ronald just fondled Max by her hair while Christine patted her back, while Chloe tried to soothe Abby by caressing her neck. "Shhh. It's OK. It's OK."

When both Max let Ronald and Abby let Chloe go, as Ronald glanced at Chloe, he realized there was one last thing to tell. "Look, I… there is something else you deserve to know, Chloe."

Max and Abby instantly realized what was Ronald about to tell and tried to stop him but the damage has already been done.

"No, Ron, not now…"

"Enough…"

"What is it, Ron?" Chloe blinked at Ronald in confusion.

Ronald glanced at Max and Abby. "You knew? Of course you did." He muttered.

"Ron. Please. If you've gotta say something to me…"

"Ronald, please…" Abby begged.

"Abby, Ron said that I've got a fucking right to know!" Chloe snapped and Abby jumped on her stretcher, breathing erratically. Chloe instantly covered her mouth as she realized she almost scared the hell out of her again. "Sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." Abby nodded and after a few moments she calmed down as she held a strong grip on the stretcher.

Ronald asked Max, Christine and Abby. "Could the three of you please wait outside?" Max and Abby both looked at each other awkwardly but they knew there was no going back so they nodded and left the nurse's office with Christine. Max let Abby lean on her shoulder as she accompanied her, while she was still weak because of her PTSD. As the door closed, Ronald took a deep breath.

"Chloe… it's… I'm sorry but… it's Rachel…" Ronald swallowed hard and Chloe covered her mouth, she felt like if she got hit into the stomach with a cannonball.

"No. Ron. No…" Chloe shook her head in denial. "She… she wasn't… please, tell me she's fine… she has to be…"

Ronald shook his head, in his eyes deep sorrow and sympathy. "I'm sorry, Chloe but… she's…" He never finished his sentence as Chloe buried her face into his chest, hugging tightly her surrogate brother, with a whole new wave of grief and sorrow.

"No! Ron! No! Not her! Why? Why Rachel? What kind of world does that? How can the life be so cruel? How could this happen?" Chloe broke down completely. Abby covered her mouth and Max looked down, both of them sobbing, when they heard Chloe grieving her deceased love.

Dana, Christine and Kate looked at Max and Abby, who were both visibly sad. They had no idea what was happening but they came to Abby and Max, hugging them and comforting them.


	7. The Truth - Part 2

_**The Truth – Part 2**_

After what felt like an eternity of comforting Chloe, Max and Abby, Christine decided to peek into the nurse's office and she saw Chloe blankly staring on the floor, sitting on the stretcher with Ronald next to her.

"She's not OK." Christine said.

"What happened?" Dana asked.

"Does it have something to do with Rachel Amber?" Kate asked Max and Abby.

Abby nodded as she swallowed hard. "She… she's gone…"

"Holy…." Christine gasped. "What… how…"

"I'm afraid they cannot tell you since the case is still under investigation." Tracy approached all of them when Max was about to speak up but shut up when Tracy showed her badge. "Detective Tracy Parker, Arcadia Bay Police Department."

"Detective… what about Nathan?" Christine asked.

"He's not getting off scot-free this time, don't worry about him. All I can tell you that this is not just about an attempted murder anymore. And it looks like I'm gonna have to have a chat with your brother." Tracy gave Abby a scornful look.

"It's not his fault, Tracy." Abby tried to let out an apologetic tone.

"I know…" Tracy sighed. Abby's brother has always been honest with people he cared about. "… but you do understand that you cannot tell this to anyone else?"

They all nodded. "Look, you need…" Her pocket buzzed as she picked her phone. "Hello?" She then sighed in frustration. "What? How? Where are they now? OK, I'm on my way."

"Is everything alright, detective?" Kate asked. Tracy hesitated as she looked at her.

"I think you should worry about your friends right now. I'm sorry, I need to go. But Miss Marsh, if you have time, I'd like to ask you a few questions later in the police station." Kate nodded when Tracy handed her her card and ran through the corridor.

Dana accompanied Kate to her dorm and after a few moments, Max, Christine and Abby opened the door to the nurse's office and saw Chloe staring down on the floor, with Ronald sitting next to her, as the teardrops were falling down her eyes.

"You knew, didn't you? You _knew_ she was dead." Chloe slowly raised her voice.

"Chloe… we… I…" Abby was lost for words and was afraid Chloe would lash out on her but all she saw in her eyes was that she was trying to understand.

"How?" Chloe begged.

"It…" Ronald paused but Chloe glared at him, making it abundantly clear she wanted the truth. "I'm sorry, Chloe but it was Nathan. He accidentally OD'd her."

Chloe started to sniff and breathe rapidly, as she clenched her fists, being both hurt and angry at the moment that Nathan did to Rachel the same thing he did to her when she wanted to extort him, but in this case, it killed her dear angel. "Bastard! I should have killed that motherfucker!" Chloe stood up but Ronald grabbed her by her arms and pushed her back on the stretcher.

"Chloe! No! Calm down!"

"Get the fuck off me, Ron!"

"No, Chloe, no!" Max ran to Ronald, grabbing Chloe by her shoulders but Chloe was quickly going berserk.

"That little punk! I'm gonna hella kick his fucking ass!" Chloe shook herself violently and freed herself off their grip.

"Chloe, stop!" Abby tried to calm Chloe down but as she and Christine grabbed Chloe by her arms, Abby was knocked down on the ground while Chloe was still raging out and Abby felt on her face burning sting and there was a small bruise on her cheek as her eyes started to fill with cold tears.

Chloe instantly gasped and covered her mouth as Abby started to break down again, thinking about her daughter. Chloe came over to Abby, trying to help her get up. "Abby, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to." But Abby was unable to listen, all she could think about was _her Chloe_ , as she curled to a ball, remembering how many times did she hold her daughter in her arms.

" _My little baby girl…_ " Abby cried out and as she did that, everyone froze at their places, staring at Abby in disbelief and realization. _What she was going through… it was motherly love._

* * *

Tracy ran into the hospital as Berry was talking with the receptionist and he had a small scar on his head. "Andy! What happened?"

"We caught Mr. Jefferson in a creepy photo studio under Prescott's barn." Berry explained. "We tried to take him in but he fought back with a home-made Molotov cocktail."

Tracy gasped. "My God? Is every…"

"No. I… I got little scratched by some glass shards but I'm good. Jefferson is in ICU though but that's not why I called you."

"So what is it, Andy?" Tracy asked as Berry bit his lip.

"It's… your daughter…"

Tracy sighed. "What has she done now?"

Berry paused for a moment. "Frank Bowers called that she ran to find Ian Marks…"

Tracy covered her mouth in horror.

* * *

"Wha…" Chloe, Christine, Ronald and Max widened their eyes in disbelief.

"Your… baby…" Chloe whispered.

Ronald hugged his sister again and comforted her, holding her shoulders. "Shhh… it's OK, Abby. It's OK. Just talk to us, Abby. Tell us everything."

After a long moment of crying and comfort, Abby finally got a hold of herself as Ronald gently fondled his sister's hair.

"I… I… this is all so fucked up, guys…" Abby wiped her face while Chloe and Max were staring at her, wondering what was Abby talking about. _Of course Max would not remember her goddaughter._ The last time Max time-traveled was when she was about to let Chloe die and the storm was threatening to wipe out Arcadia Bay... four days from now, actually. "… but… * sniff *… after… after you died, Chloe, I… I had a daughter… I… I actually named her after you… her name was…" Abby let out a laugh. "I named her ' _Chloe Rachel Powell_ '."

Chloe had to chuckle at that. "I'm sure she was a _hella_ cool baby."

After everybody else recovered from the initial shock, Christine started to ask. "Who was the father?"

Abby smiled at her best friend. "Who do you think?"

"Ian?" Ronald guessed and Abby chuckled. "Of course it was him…"

"I… after you died, Chloe, I… Ian came back and… we both started find our way back together… and… after my baby was born… I… I was finally happy… but… what it cost me you…" Abby looked at Chloe. "I… three years later, we were all together on the beach…" Abby glanced at her brother, Max and Christine. "… but Ch… my Chloe, she got her leg entangled in seaweed, I tried to save her but somehow… I got back here… today… when I realized that…" Abby again started to sob out and everybody else was able to deduce what was happening. She just couldn't stand by and let Chloe die again if she got a chance to save her but she may have doomed her hometown again and Christine had also realized that the Chloe she was talking about was actually her daughter.

Nobody knew how to comfort Abby, considering what she's been through. They just wished that she did not have to go through it, as they all came towards her and hugged her.

"We'll figure this out, Abby. We'll figure this out…"

* * *

Ian and Shane were driving to Arcadia Bay with a fifteen year old girl but they got lost on highway. "Where are we now, Annie?"

"I don't know. I knew we should have…" Annie looked at the map, then pointed at the detour outside her window. "A-ha! Take that detour! It will get us back to Arcadia Bay."

"You'll see him soon, Annie." Shane comforted him.

"Do you think he will be happy to see me?" Annie asked when he glanced down with shame for a moment.

"I know that your Dad will be, Annie." Ian promised.


	8. Family Bonds - Part 1

_**Family Bonds - Part 1**_

"What was it like with your daughter?" Chloe knelt down with Max, excited about how would her god-daughter be like.

"You'd love her, Chloe Bear." Abby smiled, giving her a nickname she also gave her daughter as Chloe smiled, her face reddening a bit, while Abby caressed her cheeks. "She started to talk when she was two years old but before that she… her first word was " _HELLO_ ". Chloe, my Chloe, I mean…" Abby giggled. "She likes to wave her hands like on anyone she sees, greeting them.

When Ronald plugs the camera into the TV so we can see what he is recording, anytime my baby sees herself on screen, she waves her hand at herself. She likes to do some crazy things, just to see what she is capable of…"

Everybody chuckled at that.

"One time, when we all went on a camping trip with Joyce, David, Ryan and Vanessa and our parents, she…" Abby smiled again, remembering the adorable moments with her daughter. "…she'd run to Max's cabin and play with you." Abby looked at Max as she let out a smile. "No way I could separate her from you, she just kept running to your house and you had to chase her around the camp, Max and she let out so cute sounds…" Tears of joy were falling down Abby's cheeks as Max was trying to imagine herself playing with a toddler, chasing a little baby around the camp.

"And what about me?" Ronald asked, being curious if he was a good uncle and Abby had to laugh out loud.

"When she was two, we brought her on Mt. Hood on Christmas. You were snowboarding there with Max and Christine and Juliet and there was one day when you taught her how to make snowballs and you were playing together with her and Ian a snowball fight and you accidentally knocked her down on her butt…" Ronald swat himself in the face.

"Oh man. I guess that was not my finest moment as Uncle Ronald, was it?" Max and Chloe giggled at that.

Abby laughed out loud. "That's what I thought at first. I was gonna rip you a new one, Ronald Frederick Powell…" Ronald glanced down on the floor in shame for a moment until Abby continued. "…but Chloe slid down the hill a bit and then got up laughing, yelling " _Again, Uncle Ronnie!_ ", clapping her hands. Then I almost laughed myself out and you brought the sleigh and drove her down the hill. She really loved that."

Abby then turned to her best friend. "Christine... she likes to play a lot with you and Cassie. You two keep teaching her some new songs for kids like " _If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands_ "… one time you two were sitting on a tree branch outside the town, she wanted to sit there too but as soon as you two put her up there, she was scared like hell and wanted down… it was actually kinda cute…"

Everyone was enjoying how did Abby tell her stories about her daughter, wishing that she could get back to her and meet her herself too.

"And Joyce and David… there was one moment at your house, Chloe when your 'step-douche' was sleeping off the shift on the couch and Chloe sneaked up on him, putting on him sunglasses, and calling him – " _super-spy_ "."

Chloe, Ronald and Max burst out in uncontainable laughter, Chloe's cheeks in particular had a fiery-red color at the moment. "Oh God, step-fucker must have ordered her like fifty push-ups for being disrespectful!"

Abby chuckled again and shook her head. "Not really, actually. When she woke him up, he grabbed her and did an 'airplane' with her." Chloe laughed out twice as loud, not being able to imagine her stepfather being such a funny surrogate uncle.

"OK, now I know you're just pulling bullshit right out of your ass!"

"I swear to you I'm not!" Abby laughed out again. She never imagined she'd be telling her childhood friends stories about her daughter growing up when she actually has not been born yet. Of course, the moments of laughter did not last as David Madsen entered the room.

"Am I interrupting something?" As Chloe looked at her step-father, she could not help herself but laugh while looking at him. "Do I have something on my face, Chloe?" He glared at her in confusion.

"No… I… Abby just told me something funn… p-f-f-f-t-t-t… sorry…" Chloe swallowed hard. "Just stories from our childhood." While it was not easy for Chloe to let go of the grudge she's been holding against David, it was funny and unusual for her to see a new, better side of David. Hearing Abby's stories, she started to reconsider her opinion about him.

David smirked. "Well, I'm glad you are all having a good time and I'm sorry for interrupting but the cops wanna talk to you too, Chloe. But before they start, I'd rather if I've got all the facts straight before I allow it." He then glanced at Abby and Ronald, hinting for them to give them some privacy. Max was about to leave too but David raised his hand. "Not you, Max. Actually, I'd like you to stay here. I need to talk to you too. Some students said they saw you enter the bathroom right after Abby and before Nathan and Chloe." Max froze and looked at Ronald, who just glared at her with a mental message. " _Just tell the truth._ " As Ronald closed the door, David started to ask.

"So Max, assuming you saw everything, what happened?"

Max took a breath before she started. She knew that David was now just trying to help. "Well, when I went into the bathroom, I heard Chloe and Nathan arguing about drugs and money when Nathan pulled out a gun and he was literally about to shoot Chloe when Abby came out and he almost shot her instead."

David turned to Chloe. "Chloe, why were you on Blackwell campus anyway in the first place?"

Chloe snorted and crossed her arms. "Oh, because that fucking prick had hella balls of steel for trying to drug me. All I wanted from him was some money to keep me quiet."

David raised his voice and pointed at Chloe, scolding her. "Chloe, that's fucking stupid! We are talking about the son of the most powerful family in Arcadia Bay and you're trying to extort him!"

"And what the fuck was I supposed to do?" Chloe stretched her arms. "You know that that asshole is hella untouchable…"

"If you'd told me, I could have figured something out…" David tried to reason with her

"Yeah, you did a great job, not figuring out that that punk-ass killed Rachel months ago…"

Max stepped up between David and Chloe. "Chloe, enough, just calm down, please!"

But Chloe has already hit the nerve and the damage has already been done, David was raising his hand, about to slap Chloe but Max grabbed him by his arm, intervening. "No, wait, she didn't mean it like that, she didn't mean it like that, please!" Max glared at David with a begging look. David took several deep breaths before he calmed down and realized that Max was openly crying in front of him. He then also realized that _not only_ he was about to hit his stepdaughter but that he was going to hit her right in front of her childhood friend who she had not seen in years and that he scared the hell out of an innocent teenage girl.

Chloe was shocked that Max was getting hysterical like that and she was getting scared of her stepfather more than she has been before as she backed off, in her eyes pure fear.

When David saw the horrified looks in Chloe's and Max's eyes, who was on verge of hysteria, he took a deep breath before he calmed down.

"Chloe, I… I'm sorry, I… I didn't mean to… I…" David was lost for words. But by the moment he spoke up Chloe had her attention entirely focused on Max as she came to her, grabbing her gently by her shoulders, comforting her.

"Max…"

"Please, just stop fighting…" Max sobbed. "I just want you to be happy, both of you… you're supposed to be family…"

Chloe was about to hug Max but David beat her to it. While this concept had been alien to him, he knew he had to make the effort, for Max's and for Chloe's sake. At first he felt awkward, embracing Max in his arms but as she sobbed into his chest, it felt more and more natural as he fondled her by her hair. While watching David comforting her childhood friend, all she could think about was her deceased father as the tears started to stream down her face too.

* * *

Ian, Shane and Annie were in a highway motel. As Shane was on lookout outside, Annie played cards with Ian.

"What is my Dad like?" Annie asked. Ian looked down for a moment.

"I… I'm not the guy that can answer that question, sweetheart." Ian said after a while of silence.

"Please…"

"He's not a bad man if that's what you're wondering." Ian said simply.

"I know he's not. I mean… what does he do… where does he live… what's his family like…"

"He likes art." Ian said. "And he…" Before Ian could finish his sentence, Shane entered the room.

"I think they're onto us, we gotta go."

"Again? How the hell did they find us?" Annie stepped up from her chair.

"They've still got a lot of resources even though I took most of them out and they're both very persistent and cunning. Grab your bag and move!" Annie nodded and they rushed into the car, driving away and losing the car that has been circling around the motel. In Ian's mind were just two things. Keeping a promise to a teenage girl that she would see her father she has never seen before in her entire life and that he would return back to the woman he still loves.


	9. Family Bonds - Part 2

_**Family Bonds – Part 2**_

Christine had already given Tracy her statement and testimony regarding Abby's role in the bathroom incident and since Tracy has known Abby a long time, she did not need to interrogate the sister of her friend and a girl she cared about as much as her own daughter.

Christine walked down the hall to her dorm when she met Victoria and Taylor at the doorstep when they turned their attention at her. Christine sighed. _Not again. Do they have better things to do than laughing at my face?_

But then she noticed Victoria was sniffing a bit as Taylor comforted her. Victoria then turned around and noticed Christine, who had to take a deep breath so she would not do something she'd regret. 'It was Victoria's best friend who almost killed _my_ best friend.' Christine tried to ignore Victoria as she passed by her and Taylor was about to enter her dorm.

"Christine, wait." Victoria called Christine out as she opened the door. "I just want to ask – Is Abby OK?"

Christine again inhaled intensely so she would not lash out. "She's not dead. Nothing else needs to concern you." Christine replied coldly but before she could take a step inside, Victoria grabbed her hand. Christine raised her brows as she turned around.

Victoria seemed… afraid at the moment, uncertain of Christine's reaction. "Chris, I… I'm sorry, OK? I'm sorry about what happened to her, I really am. I know you have no reason to believe me but I never wished something like that upon Abby. I swear." Victoria did her best to keep her feelings in check. Taylor just stood behind her awkwardly, like a _very careful_ truck driver carrying nitroglycerine.

Christine looked into Victoria's eyes and she could see in them genuine concern. "I never thought Nathan would do something like that – bringing a gun at school, and doing something like that to Abby of all the people, and even when she almost drowned…" Victoria sobbed. "I just can't believe what he did, I…"

As much as Christine hated Victoria to the core for mocking her for her appearance with her twin sister who was forced to drop out because of Nathan and making fun of her and Abby, she just couldn't bring herself to hate the remorseful vulnerable blonde in front of her.

"Victoria, I… what do you want me to say? Honestly. I… It feels like you want me to forgive you for something that is not my place to. I… I don't blame you for what Nathan did but… everytime…" Christine gritted her teeth. "... _everytime_ I look at you, Taylor…" she glanced at her. "…when I see anyone from Vortex Club, all I can think about is what have all of you put me and Cassie through because of that brat.

He crossed the line, Victoria. He almost killed Abby and now… you have no idea how messed up she is right now. And trust me when I tell you that you are better off not knowing." Christine swallowed hard. She wished Abby would not have to go through all this. Not even that she was almost killed, she was also separated from her daughter. Christine knew far too well what it's like when some circumstances force someone to separate himself from the family.

"I… I'm sick of this… this spite… this anger… I can't go on like this anymore but… frankly, I don't see how or why should I forgive you…"

Victoria glanced down for a moment before looking into Christine's eyes again. "Please, I… I'm sorry… about everything… and about your sister… and Kate…"

Christine turned around, her eyes getting blurred by tears, she did not want Victoria or Taylor to notice. Christine remembered Abby's stories about her future and about Abby's daughter.

"I… I don't know what should I feel anymore… I just… all I want is for Abby to be happy and… right now she feels like there's nothing left for her here…" Christine wiped her tears in her eyes with her hand before she sighed. "You have no idea _how much lost_ does she feel right now… I'm sorry Victoria but… right now I just have too much in my mind to find a reason to forgive you… I just need some time to sort out my own thoughts…" She rushed into her room before she'd break down, thinking about her sister who left her because of Nathan.

Christine jumped on her bed and curled to a ball, sobbing and thinking about Cassie and Abby and mourning every nonexistent happy moment with her best friend and her family in the future.

* * *

Ronald was about to bring Abby back home when Principal Wells waited for them at the doorstep to the entrance. "May I have a word with you, Mr. Powell? Miss Powell, you do not have to if you do not feel up for it right now but I'm afraid I have to talk with your brother right now."

"Wait for me in the car, OK?" Ronald whispered to his sister's ear as he gave her his keys. Abby nodded and went past Wells as he stopped her and gently grabbed her shoulder, in his eyes deep remorse.

"I hope you will be alright, Abigail. I am very sorry about this incident with Mr. Prescott and at the swimming pool today." Abby flinched and sniffed rapidly. "Don't worry. I will make sure everything will be alright. But I think for your own sake you should give yourself some rest and drop out for the time being so you can focus on full recovery." Abby nodded as he caressed her hair and she rushed out of the school before she'd have another panic attack.

Ronald then approached Wells. "Can I help you, sir?"

Wells crossed his arms. "Mr. Powell. You do realize that you physically assaulted a son of the man who funds this _very_ school, do you?"

"Sir, I..." Ronald gritted his teeth, not wanting to lash out. "With all due respect, first of all, Nathan brought a gun onto the school premises, second of all, he almost killed my sister who had just almost drowned in the pool and…"

Wells raised his hand and cut Ronald off. "I do not intend to reprimand you, Ronald. I understand _very well_ your reasons and I do not blame you. I just want to warn you. There will be consequences for attacking Mr. Prescott and his father will do anything in his power to make sure that there will be no incidents linked to their family name.

Now he cannot brush off the fact that his son almost shot your sister but my point is that Sean Prescott _is not_ a person you want to have as your enemy and you assaulting Mr. Prescott is an excuse enough for him to make sure you will not become a… _nuisance_ , if you forgive me that term.

Consider this an advice from a friend. Do not give Sean Prescott more reasons to focus his attention on you and your sister more than he already has and try to keep a low profile and keep your distance from Prescott's, even though how hard it may be at the moment. That is all I wanted to say. I will try to keep off as much heat as possible from you and Abigail here at Blackwell but for your sakes, please be careful in the following days."

Ronald nodded. "Thank you, Principal Wells." With that he left the main building and accompanied his sister to his car.

Neither Abby nor Ronald said a word in the car for the first few minutes until Ronald decided to cut the silence. "There's more that happens in the future, is it?"

Abby looked at her brother, being hesitant. "Ron, I… I don't want to lie to you but you do understand that I cannot tell you everything at once, do you?"

"I'm not asking you to, Abigail. I just want to know if there's something I should be prepared for in the following days." Ronald said. While he knew that he should not know too much, he was also aware that the trouble were coming their way.

Abby looked to the road for a moment. "Abby, I promise, we'll figure this out. You will see your daughter again."

"But that would mean Max and I'd have to leave Chloe to die… again…" Abby again breathed rapidly.

"I don't believe that, Abby. There has to be a way…" Ronald said with stubbornly tone as he shook his head.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had any idea…" Abby retorted but Ronald cut her off.

"Abby, stop. Don't think like that. Focus on what matters now. We'll find a way to save Chloe and to get you back to your daughter."

Abby had to laugh a bit. "You sound just like Max. In the end, it was either Arcadia Bay or her."

"If that's the case, at least enjoy whatever time we still have with them. Do you want to spend the following four days moping? Make them count. You may not be able to go back to your baby but that does not mean she will never be born. All you need to do is wait. One way or another, you will see her again." Abby remained silent while staring at the window. Ronald sighed, he had no idea how to cheer his sister up anymore.

As they entered their house and Abby looked around at the living room and the kitchen, the memories of spending her time with her daughter took her over again.

"Abby…" Ronald hugged his sister from behind.

" _I miss her so much, Ron, I miss her so much, I just want my baby back…_ " Abby broke down again as she buried her face into his breasts.

"I know, Abby, I know, shhh, it's OK…." Ronald tightened his embrace. Then his phone started to buzz as he picked up the call while he let Abby go.

"Mom?"

" _Ronald? The principal and the police told us what happened at school. Is Chloe and Abigail…_ "

"Chloe is OK and Abigail, well… physically she's fine Mom but…" Ronald paused as Abby sat on the couch, burying her face into her hands. "...well, you'd have to see her to know how exactly is she. I… I don't know how to describe it, honestly."

" _I… I see… did you call her therapist?_ " Ronald sighed again.

"Mom, I… I don't see how can Doyle can help her this time… I know she needs help but… all I'm saying that right now it's too much for her to take in…"

" _I… I understand… just look after her, honey. We'll be coming soon…_ " As his mother hung up, Ronald wondered how could she help with this supernatural time traveling stuff and with Abby mourning her unborn child. One thing Ronald knew for certain – he needs to be there for his sister now more than ever and Ian too. He wondered where his former friend and the man his sister loved was now.

Later on, a man in suit and a briefcase rang at their doorstep. _Prescott's lawyer lapdog._ Ronald thought as he growled.

Ronald opened the door. "Can I help you?"

The man in the suit handed Ronald his card. "Good day. My name is Vincent Hart. I am a legal representative of…"

"Let me guess – Nathan Prescott." The lawyer nodded. Ronald took a deep breath. "Before you say anything, my sister and I have decided not to press any legal charges against Nathan, if that's what you are worried about. I know that he did not mean to aim his gun at Abigail and that the situation is bigger than it would seem. My sister was only an innocent victim in it.

As for me attacking him, I'll admit I could have handled the situation better and if it will be required, I will willingly go through." As much as Ronald hated Nathan, he knew from Max that Jefferson had been manipulating him the entire time and that he just needed help.

Hart nodded. "That is good. I am not here to make things worse for you actually. Mr. Prescott offers a compensation package…"

Ronald cut him off. "We don't want his money. Tell Sean Prescott that we are not going to file a lawsuit and all we want is to make sure that his son gets the help he needs and the people responsible for the incident will face justice and face whatever consequences they have to." The lawyer nodded. "We appreciate the offer but we do not need it."

"Thank you, Mr. Powell. And on behalf of Prescott's family I want to apologize to you and to Miss Powell…" he nodded at Abby. "…for being an… unwilling participant in this… incident. Have a good day."

Abby widened her eyes in surprise as she laughed. "I thought you were gonna beat the hell out of him."

"If he was gonna say that you were mentally unstable and that it was a simple self-defense bullshit case and his father wanted to sue us, I definitely would have." Ronald laughed out too. He then grabbed his jacket. "I'll go see how's Chloe and Max doing. You need anything?"

Abby suddenly remembered how did Jack Brown break into their house as she flinched. "Could you… could you please call someone to stay here? I… I don't wanna be alone in here…"

Ronald nodded and called Tracy. " _Ronald?_ "

"Hey, Trace. Could you please come down here to keep an eye on Abby? She's too scared to be alone. I'm gonna go see Max and Chloe, to see how they are doing."

Tracy sighed. Ronald knew instantly that something was off as he sighed too. "What's going on, Trace?"

" _It's… It's Annie…_ " Tracy said frantically.

"Figures." Ronald thought. Tracy's daughter was in juvie with Ronald and Shane too but she spent a lot more time there than him, Shane and Chloe combined. Whenever Annie was angry, she'd do a lot more trouble than Chloe but that was a long time ago. "What's she done now?"

" _She's looking for Ian…_ "

Ronald seemed confused now. "I don't follow…"

" _She wants to find her father…_ "

Ronald gasped out.

* * *

"You never told me how did you find me anyway, Annie." Ian said while Shane was driving.

"Did you forget that my Mom is a cop?" Annie chuckled.

"You know she's probably gonna put you on house arrest for this, do you?" Shane muttered.

Annie chuckled before she turned to Ian. "You know my Dad, do you?"

Ian paused for a moment as he looked into the mirror, seeing that Shane glared at him. "I know someone who does... or did…"

"Can you tell me something about him?"

"I know that if he could see you, he'd be proud of you. He'd die before he'd let anything happen to his family. What did your Mom tell you about him anyway?"

"Not much, actually. Just that he made some wrong choices in the past that made him and Mom break up. But it was a mutual agreement. And that he does not even know I exist and that it is probably for the best."

"Look, Annie, if someone could tell you the most about your father, it would be him and your Mom. And before you start thinking that, it's not me or Ronald Powell."

Annie snorted. "I know that. I'm not dumb, Ian. I am not like him…"

"Except for the short temper maybe …" Shane uttered as everyone chuckled.

Ian sighed. "Look. This isn't the best time to discuss your father and I do not know everything. I promise, once we get to Arcadia Bay, you'll get your answers."

* * *

David was accompanying Max and Chloe to Chloe's truck when Joyce ran to them. "Chloe! Max!"

"Mom!" Joyce rushed to her and hugged her and Max.

"Oh God! When I saw on the news that there was a shooting in Blackwell and then I heard that you two were there, I feared the worst…"

"We're all OK, Joyce. Abby isn't though." David calmed her down.

"Abby! Oh God…" Joyce covered her mouth. "She's…"

"No, she wasn't shot but… she's going to need us. All of us." Chloe said, looking down, thinking not only about Rachel but also about Abby's future family.


	10. The Coming

_**The Coming**_

"Annie…" Ronald muttered as soon as Tracy hung up. "What the hell are you thinking?"

"What has she done now?" Abby asked as she sighed.

"She wants to find her Dad…" Ronald said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Abby widened her eyes. "Ash… I thought he was…"

"He _is_ dead… but Annie does not want to believe it. She is in denial."

Abby covered her mouth. "Oh God."

"What happened to her anyway, Abby?" Ronald asked.

"I… All I know that she left town with Tracy after Chloe's funeral and… that was the last time we saw them both actually…"

"Do you know who killed her father?"

Abby shook her head and swallowed hard. It was obvious more trouble were coming their way.

"We both know _why_ …"

* * *

"When are you going to tell her that he died?" Ian asked Shane while Annie was in the shower.

"You saw how she reacted the last time she heard that. She will not believe me no matter what I…"

"But you were there…"

"She's going to blame me and you and I both know that it was partly my fault too…" Shane looked down.

"What was partly your fault?" Annie asked while she went out, a towel wrapped around her head but other than that, head to toe wet and stark naked. Ian and Shane flinched as they instantly covered their eyes, when they noticed her nude body. Shane ran to the window and closed the curtains so that no one would see Annie's breasts.

"Gosh, Annie… can't you put on some clothes?" Shane yelled.

"It's all still drying… and I don't mind being seen nude…" Annie chuckled.

"Yeah. Like that time when you went skinny dipping with Christine, Cassie, Chloe and Abby in the night on the beach." Ian noted. "The three of them were hiding underwater on the beach and Berry busted you. Or when you wanted to break into the Blackwell pool with Chloe…"

"Jesus Christ…" Shane pointed at the TV. Ian gasped as he saw Abby's photo and the headlines. " _A former victim of rape attempt also a victim of an attempted murder._ "

"She needs you, Ian…" Annie noted.

"Yeah. Grab your clothes, Annie. We're leaving in half an hour." Ian said as Annie nodded.

"And my Dad…"

Shane and Ian looked at each other. "I know we promised you answers but you need to understand that…"

"No. He's not dead. He cannot be dead." Annie said stubbornly.

Shane tried to reason with her. "I was there, Annie. I saw the car explode. There's no way he could have sur…"

Annie retorted, swallowing hard. "No. I don't believe that. Dad's a soldier. He's a surviv…"

Ian then looked at TV and saw David Madsen being interviewed by the reporters. "Maybe there's somebody else who can give you some closure."

* * *

David was talking on the phone while Max and Chloe were going over old family photos with Joyce.

"Uh-huh. I see… And where is… Thank you… No, I will tell them…"

David then came to Joyce and with very angry expression on his face.

"What happened, David?"

"They caught Jefferson-of-a-bitch." David said with a bitter tone. "I knew there was something off about him."

"Mr. Jefferson? Why? What did he do?" Max asked, trying to sound as confused as possible, considering that she was not supposed to know.

"It's… complicated, Max." David looked at her with an understanding look. "All I can tell you that Jefferson and Nathan were doing something very nasty and Nathan just ratted him out. But when they found him, he fought back. Right now he's in the hospital, he tried to burn officer Berry alive."

"Holy shit…" Max gasped.

"Good riddance. He should burn in hell for what he's done. Him and Nathan." Chloe said angrily.

"Chloe…" Joyce glared at her daughter.

"Those fuckers have to pay for what they did to Rachel!" Chloe stretched her arms. "I'd kill them all myself!"

"Chloe. Stop. Please." Max held her arm.

"Chloe." David tried to calm Chloe down. "I understand that you are pissed after what has Nathan done but none of them is going to hurt anyone else ever again.

I know it is not the justice you want but do you think Rachel would want you to become a killer?"

Chloe opened her mouth to retort but as she felt Max squeezing her arm even more tightly and the look in her eyes, the same one she had when she begged Chloe not to go take out Jefferson and Nathan in the other timeline, she realized that David was right. Chloe instead gritted her teeth.

"Just… fuck this!" Chloe shook herself off and ran into her room.

David yelled. "Get back here, Chloe! That's an or…"

"No!" Max cut him off. "Let me handle her. Please." Max had an imploring look in her eyes as she almost started to cry again. As David looked at her, he nodded. He realized that he should not have to treat his teenage stepdaughter as a soldier and when he realized how much does his attitude scare her best friend, he nodded.

When Max entered Chloe's room, she saw Chloe curled to the ball at her bed, sobbing.

"Chloe…" Max sat next to her, fondling Chloe's back, trying to comfort her best friend.

"I… I still cannot believe this shit. Nathan, you, Abby…" Chloe spoke up after a long moment of crying and sniffing.

Max nodded. "I know it's a lot to take in, Chloe."

"Why her, Max? Why did it have to be her?" Chloe cried.

Max whispered. "I… I don't know. What I know that Nathan was just… too… unbalanced and Jefferson took advantage of it. I'm not defending him, Chloe but the real villain here was Jefferson, not Nathan. That's all I'm saying.

It does not justify what they both did to all those girls. I… I really don't know what to say, Chloe. But I also know that it's all partly my fault too. If I hadn't broken contact with you, you might not have needed her, Chloe.

I… I'm not trying to replace her but I don't plan to abandon you ever again… You're my best friend, Chloe. And it was so wrong from me to leave you. And Abby regretted distancing herself from you too…

Just remember that you're not alone… not anymore, Chloe…"

Chloe stopped sniffing a few moments later and hugged Max.

* * *

Tracy drove to Powells' house as soon as possible as Ronald let her in. "Thanks, Trace. And what about Annie?"

"The other cops are looking for her, don't worry…"

"They'll get her back, don't worry. And what has Ian gotten himself into?" Ronald asked. He knew his sister might know but she was too afraid right now to tell him more.

"I… I'll tell you later. I'll keep an eye on Abby, don't worry."

"She's as stubborn as Ash was."

"That's because he used to be in the army. You remember after her birth?"

Ronald smiled. "I was seven, Trace!"

"But you were very curious. One moment you were playing with her at her crib, the next moment, you ran into the living room and you looked at my belly, opening my shirt…"

"God, you and Mom were laughing your asses out. ' _Annie is already outside, Ronald._ '" Ronald swallowed hard. Then he remembered something. "Why would Ian know something about her Dad anyway?"

"Short version – Ian has gotten himself into some trouble in the past few years and Ash wanted to help him but he has dragged himself into a big mess himself."

"Oh, Jesus…" Ronald remembered that on the news was that Ash one day killed a mobster.

"Ian has gotten into debt because of some drugs for pain and he killed some of the gangsters. Ash helped him escape but…"

"That car crash was not a car crash, was it?" Tracy shook her head as she shed a tear. "Do you know who killed him?"

"No. But if I ever find out, he's gonna pay." Tracy said in an angry tone.

Ronald nodded.


	11. The Silence Before the Storm

_**The Silence Before the Storm**_

"Uh-huh. Thank you." Tracy hung up as she sighed. "Well. A few less things to worry about for now…"

"What's going on, Trace?" Abby asked.

"Well, let's just say you will not need to worry about Nathan for a while."

"What happened?" Abby insisted. "I mean, I know he confessed but where is he gonna end up?"

"His lawyers have been trying to cut a deal with the DA and have Nathan committed into an asylum a few miles outside the town."

"Huh. That's what he deserves." Abby remembered that in the original timeline the same thing happened to him. "And what about Jefferson? I mean, Ron told me that he was somehow involved too?" Abby lied.

"We got him but he's in a coma with third burn degree. He tried to throw a Molotov at the cops who busted him."

Abby was uncertain what to feel. She did hate Jefferson for killing Chloe and putting all those girls through that hell but she tried her best not to let that spite consume her.

Because Prescott's lawyers were not able to get Nathan free because he had admitted to his crimes, they were at least able to cut a deal and commit him into an asylum where he would get the necessary help. Most of his actions were considered as done by manipulation.

This did not satisfy Tracy much but at least justice has been served.

"At least neither of them is going to hurt anyone ever again. And Rachel…"

"I know, Abs." Tracy nodded as she sat next to her. "And… are you OK?" Tracy held her hand. "After…"

Abby closed her eyes as she remembered the abduction at her house and her breathing became erratic again. Tracy squeezed her grip gently. "Shhh. It's OK. Breathe. It's OK."

Abby could not banish her thoughts about Ian and her daughter as she started to cry slowly and the detective hugged her. "I know it's hard not to think about that but remember that you're not alone in this, Abby…"

' _Alone… how must my little girl feel without me?_ ' Abby again thought about her little Chloe.

"I…" Abby could not bury it inside her but she could not tell the truth to Tracy either. ' _How would she react?_ ' Abby thought. "I'm just thinking about… about Ian…"

"I know you miss him…"

Abby knew the truth but she felt like she had to ask. "And… where is he? What happened? I mean, I read the news that he was involved in killing of some loan sharks in Milwaukee…"

Tracy sighed. "I knew you would find out one day…"

"What's going on? And why did Annie run away again?"

"She wants to find Ash and she has gone to find the last person who had seen him alive."

"The people that Ian pissed off… they made it look like an accident, did they?" Abby deduced as Tracy nodded, shedding her tear. "I'm sorry…"

Tracy swallowed hard, trying to keep her feelings at bay. "I never told him about Annie. He left me before I even realized I was pregnant and I had no idea where he was or what was he doing.

The army kept sending him on tours and by the time I reached him… five years later… he had found someone else but she passed. And he said he was afraid of being a father… that he would never be good at it… you have no idea what does this job do to you.

Being a cop, a soldier… it has the same consequences… sooner or later it leaves scars on your souls and you have to do things you'd never thought you would have, one day it will be either you or that person, what you would do just to stay alive…

That can change you so much you would not even recognize yourself and trying to do the things you used to do… it does not feel the same way after that… I could not put him through that…

When the FBI called me…" Tracy started to sniff and cover her face. "He was undercover and tried to pull Ian out of there but somehow they found out and from what they told me, someone was sent to take him out and make it look like an accident.

I told Annie thousands of times that he's gone but she never believed me… she kept looking through my letters… she wanted so desperately to get to know him…"

Abby could feel her eyes getting cold while she thought about her daughter. ' _How much must she miss me?_ '

"I can see her side, Tracy…" Abby nodded in understanding as she started to sniff.

Tracy then said with hate in her tone as she wiped her tears. "If I ever find that bastard who killed him, he's going to rue the day he took him away from me and my little girl…"

Abby flinched as she has never seen anyone that angry, not even Nathan or Ronald.

* * *

"Chloe is going to need you and Max and Abby…" Joyce explained to Ronald as he nodded while David was going through Chloe's and Joyce's family photos, trying to get a deeper understanding of his stepdaughter.

"I… I should come back later. Tell her and Max that if they need to talk…"

"I will, Ronald." Joyce said as she kissed Ronald by his cheek and he left their house.

Then he got a phone call from someone he had not met for a while. "Shane White!" Ronald laughed.

" _Look, Ron. I'm in deep shit…_ " Shane panicked.

"What do you mean?" Ronald asked confused from his old friend's horrified tone.

Shane spilled out frantically. " _I can't tell you on the phone but I'm heading to Arcadia with Ian…_ "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, slow down, man… start from the beginning, Shane. I need to know everything."

" _OK. OK. I will… Damn it, Annie, I told you not to put down your hoodie!_ " Ronald flinched as he heard her name.

" _Annie Parker_?" Ronald's mind suddenly started to race a thousand times faster. "What the hell is she doing with you, man? What have you gotten yourselves into, damn it?"

" _No time! Just tell Tracy we need protective custody!_ " Shane panicked as he hung up and Ronald could swear he heard popping sounds in the background which might have sounded like gunshots and the line went dead.

"Shane? Shane! Is that gunshots there? Hey! Argh, screw this!"

' _What the hell is going on?_ ' Ronald wondered. He wasted no time as he ran back to his car.

* * *

Abby heard the doorbell ring as she jumped on her couch and screamed. "Aagh!"

"Whoa, easy, Abs." Tracy held Abby as her breathing was becoming labored.

"Could you please look who's there?"

Tracy nodded as she looked through the peephole. "Just some kid from Blackwell."

Abby turned around and went to the door as she saw Victoria in front of her house. Abby opened the door while taking a deep breath.

"Hey." Abby said politely.

"Abby, I…" Victoria sounded uncertain. "I just wanted to see if you were alright after all that… and I heard you screaming right after I rang… I'm sorry if that doorbell scared you."

"No… it's… it's OK…" Abby breathed out. "I… I'm going to be fine, don't worry…"

"You sure?" Victoria sounded sincerely concerned. "I mean… you almost drowned a few hours ago and Nathan almost shot you… I still can't believe he would do something like that and to you of all the people…"

Abby suddenly got a flashback of the kidnapping again as she squeezed her fists and tried to take a deep breath as she closed her eyes.

Victoria covered her mouth. "God, I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you go through that…" Victoria grabbed Abby by her arms. "It's OK. It's OK. Nothing's happening to you…" After a few moments Abby was able to steady her breathing, Victoria sighed with relief. "Shit, I still need to get a hang of this…"

"Not… not your fault, Victoria." Abby tried to comfort her. "I… I know that you did not mean to..." Tracy ran to the door as she stood behind Abby, visibly concerned about her.

Victoria greeted her. "Hello. Are you Abby's friend?"

"You could say that." Tracy nodded as she showed her badge. "Detective Tracy Parker. I've been looking after Abby since…" Tracy looked at Abby with a focused gaze as Victoria nodded.

"I see. I've seen you in Blackwell today, now that I think of it… you were the cop interrogating Nathan, were you?"

"I cannot answer any questions regarding the ongoing investigation." Tracy nodded and crossed her arms. "But I will say this much: Mr. Prescott will have to face charges for bringing a firearm on school premises and an attempted murder."

"But it was an accident… I mean, I'm not defending him but surely you can give him some leniency."

"That… might be possible but... highly unlikely given the severity of the situation." Tracy shook her head. "Unfortunately, this is bigger than I had actually thought, that's all I will say… your friend will probably be committed into an institution."

Victoria nodded. "I admit – he does need some professional help."

"I'm not blaming him for what he did, Victoria…" Victoria widened her eyes in surprise as Abby comforted her. "…but… I guess I wish things had not turned out the way they did."

"I… I see…" Victoria nodded again.

"Victoria, can you be honest with me?" Abby asked to Victoria's surprise again. "Why are you so mean most of the time? I mean, yeah, we do step on each others throats but I don't want to feel that way anymore. I… after today… I guess I want to change things for the better in my life… while I still can." Abby remembered her friendship with Victoria in the future.

"I… I get it… Abby, I'm sorry. I don't hate you or Max…"

"Then why? I mean, why do you do…" Abby stretched her arms "… _this_ out there? After what Nathan almost did to Cassie and to me now?"

"I… you would not understand…" Victoria swallowed.

"Maybe. That does not mean I should not try."

"I… it's all about appearances, that's it. I mean, my Mom and Dad need me to…"

"I see…" Abby nodded. "I suppose I could understand that but that does not mean you have to tear others down…

Look…" Abby rubbed her face. "I know what have I been saying about you and how much did we step on each other's throats but to be honest, I don't want to feel that way anymore, Victoria." Abby again remembered all of her traumatic experiences so far and the premonitions, also thinking about her daughter as she wiped her face.

"I… I… I don't want to feel that hate anymore… not after what have I gone through and I know that to friendship you and I have a long way to go but I want to try…"

"I… I hear you, Abby. I… I want to try too." Victoria nodded.

"I just still can't believe Nathan almost killed my childhood friend and me too…" Abby wiped the tears that were threatening to fill her eyes as she thought about her daughter again. "Jesus, I don't know what the hell was I thinking, I just did not want him to kill Chloe…" Abby's hands were shaking as she again tried to keep herself at bay.

Victoria tried to pat Abby's back. It was new for her to comfort Abby since she has been ridiculing her. "Look, I'm not going to defend his actions but Nathan's Dad has not really given shit about him and he's been getting medications…"

"That's why he's acting like a spoiled dick?" Abby snorted. "Sorry if I'm being blunt…"

"I still can't believe he would be crazy enough to bring a gun…"

"You have no idea what he could be capable of…" Abby's hands were shaking. "Look, whatever our differences are, I would like to put all of that behind us."

"So would I, Abby."

"Well, if you are willing to try to be better to me, can I ask for something in return?" Abby again remembered something.

"Of course." Victoria flinched, assuming Abby wants money.

"Take down the video of Kate at that party and be nicer to her. Please. She's gone through more than enough because of that and she does not deserve this and it's not her fault."

Victoria stared at Abby for a moment, contemplating before she spoke up. "That's… fair, I guess. But… it's on her if she…"

"She was drugged, not drunk." Abby spilled out before she could stop herself.

"What?" Victoria exclaimed.

"OK, Abby, enough." Tracy intervened.

"No, what did she…"

"Not now." Tracy glared both at Victoria and Abby.

"Was it Nathan?" Victoria deduced after a moment of processing what Abby just said.

Tracy intervened and gave Victoria an imploring look. "Don't tell anyone else what you said. And Abby…" She turned to her with scornful glare. "I think you need to rest."

Abby and Victoria nodded. Abby went back to her room upstairs while Victoria left the house.

* * *

In a nearby gas station was Ian with Annie looking for food in a plastic box, wondering what to buy, considering she was still young and needs to consume a bit more calories than he and Shane did. He also made sure that he wore a cap with which people would not recognize him and Annie had a hoodie on her.

' _I owe Annie that much to find out what happened to her father. He saved my life. But how can I tell her that his death is my fault?_ '

A few moments later Annie did pick a box of roasted chicken legs but then Ian got a text from Shane.

" _Mean looking black jackets at the entrance, might wanna bail._ "

Ian looked into the reflection of the glass door of the fridge, seeing two men, oddly looking around. He did not take any chances and quickly went to the cashier, handing her a twenty dollar bill.

"Keep the change."

"What's going on?" Annie asked. Ian said nothing as he nodded to the entrance and Annie also nodded in understanding.

Then they were trying to walk casually towards his car and were about to wait for Shane when somebody grabbed his arm from behind and he felt something poking him in his back as he and Annie stopped and both of them flinched in fear.

"Ian Marks." Ian did nothing and waited for what would happen next. "Take off the hood and the cap and turn around. Now." Ian looked at Annie and shook his head.

Ian slowly turned his head and at the moment the thug saw his face and smirked, Ian grabbed his hand in which he held the gun, punched him in the stomach and twisted his arm, causing for the thug to drop his gun. Ian then threw him over his back and punched him in the face, knocking him out.

"I don't know where he is. And I told boss I don't want anything to do with searching for him."

"Then why did you run off with that girl?"

Ian raised his head and saw three more of the thugs pinning Shane to the wall. "She was a stowaway, that's it."

"Does she know that you were responsible…" Ian knocked one of the thug's head to the wall which surprised the other one, letting Shane go and Shane used the opening to punch him in the stomach, then he turned and hit him in the face with his elbow, Shane then grabbed him by his jacket and headbutted him and threw him to a nearby trash bin. The last thug grabbed Annie from behind but Annie stepped on his foot.

The thug yelped in pain and let Annie go as she shoved him and stepped on his testicle as he whimpered loudly but in the fight Annie's hood fell off.

"That's the girl!" One of the thugs exclaimed.

"Hey! What's going on here?" The police were running towards Shane, Annie and Ian.

"Run. Now!" Ian, Shane and Annie ran to the car but a black van arrived to the gas station. As Ian was driving away, the van followed them, with the man in the passenger seat getting out of his window and pulling a gun.


	12. To the Edge of the Abyss

_**To the Edge of the Abyss**_

Ronald rushed back home as quickly as possible as he hit the gas. Soon enough he ran back home as Abby and Tracy were watching TV and Abby again took a fright from Ronald bursting in.

"Jesus, Ron!"

"Trace, we got a problem!" Ronald said after a few fast breaths.

"What is going…"

"Ian, Shane and Annie are on the way back here and apparently, they are in deep shit. Short version – get everyone you can and arrange protective custody."

Tracy nodded as she stood up. Abby also followed them.

* * *

"What is going on, Ron?" Abby asked in the back seat as soon as Tracy finished the call with the police department.

"I don't know." Ronald shook his head. "What I do know that your boyfriend, her daughter and my old friend from juvie have gotten themselves into some deep shit and now their trouble is coming to bite us all in the ass."

"Shit." Abby hissed. "It is because of those loan sharks Ian killed?"

Tracy nodded. "That would be my guess. Ash tried to help Ian out but somehow they got a wind of it and got him killed." She said with tone full of anger.

"How did they even find out?"

"We had an inside man but I guess he turned on us and betrayed him." Tracy glared into the mirror.

"Who?" Ronald asked.

"They never told me. But it's not all."

"What?"

"Remember Frank Bowers?" Ronald sneered.

"What about him?" Ronald said with disgust in his tone.

"Ash asked him where to find Tobias Brown. The mobster. That guy has been making deals with Frank for a while but we never got proof. Frank agreed because these people were dangerous and because…" Tracy glanced at Abby into the mirror as she and Ronald nodded.

"I still hate that guy for not keeping eye on that asshole." Ronald spat.

Abby closed her eyes and clenched her fists, trying to keep her fear at bay and suppressing her traumatic memories.

"Sorry, Abby. It's gonna be OK. Just stay with us and don't be scared. Nothing's gonna happen to you, I promise." Ronald soothed his sister. As soon as Tracy parked in front of the police station, she ordered Ronald and Abby to stay in her office and called the city limits guards to keep their eyes open.

But when they entered the police station, inside were to Ronald's and Abby's surprise also Max and Chloe, giving their statements to other officers regarding the bathroom incident.

Abby swallowed hard, trying to keep her feelings at bay.

* * *

"Your girlfriend and my Mom are gonna be so fucking pissed we've gotten ourselves into such deep shit!" Annie exclaimed while the thugs were shooting at the car. Soon enough she screamed as the glass shattered.

"Annie, get down!" Shane yelled as he pulled out a gun, going out a window and shot one of the thugs in his arm, then he hit the tire and Ian turned the wheel, ramming the other car which drove into a ditch.

"Everyone OK?" Ian asked.

"Yeah!" Annie said and Shane and Ian sighed with relief. But what neither of the men did not notice was that Annie was holding her hip, which was bleeding.

* * *

As soon as Ian parked in front of the police station, they all burst in.

Tracy ran to her daughter and she was not sure if she should be either mad or scared as Abby instantly ran to her boyfriend which she still loved, also thinking about their unborn daughter.

"You're back. I can't believe you're back…" Abby cried into Ian's chest. Ian instantly returned the hug and fondled her hair.

Tracy though glared at her daughter and bellowed at her with motherly fear and anger. "Mary Annabeth Parker, what the hell has gotten into you?! Do you have any idea what have you put me through? I had almost thought you were not coming back home alive this time!"

"Mom, I'm sorry, OK?" Annie's voice trembled.

"Damn well you should be, young lady!" Tracy screamed and her eyes were filling with tears of both fear and relief. "Running away from home like that when I had explicitly told you to wait for me until I get back home. As soon as I got back to town, I had to check on Abby because she almost got killed today, now I find out that you ran away to talk with a known drug dealer who was partly responsible for her almost getting raped and wanted to find a man who was linked to the shootout between a mobster and the FBI!"

"Back up a moment, what?" Ian widened his eyes as he looked alternately at Abby and Tracy. "You… what happened?"

Abby tried to steady her breath but she was barely able to speak as she sobbed into Ian's chest.

"I wanted to find Dad, Mom!"

"I told you he's gone!"

"No, you're wrong…"

"No, she is right, Annie. He is dead and it is my fault." Shane cut them all off. It was as if just now Tracy noticed Shane as she looked at him, widening her eyes.

"You…"

"Tracy, I know you must be mad at me…"

Tracy grabbed Shane by his jacket and pinned him to the wall. "Give me one good reason why I should not kill you right now." Tracy snarled.

Shane raised his hands, trying to calm Tracy down. "I get that you're pissed…"

"I told you not to come back here…"

"Mom, what's going on?" Annie asked confused.

"You promised no one would find out Ash was undercover, you bastard!"

"I may as well have been the one who rammed his car down the highway…" Shane said with apologetic tone.

"What?" Everyone in the room yelled as Max and Chloe were approaching the entrance, wondering what was the noise about.

"Shane, what the hell are you talking about?" Ronald asked frightened.

"I… I was sloppy… I was supposed to give your Dad a secret message…" Shane looked at Annie. "…but they found it first, they knew they had been infiltrated and put a hit on your Dad.

I tried to warn him… but… by the time I found him… they had finished him off… I just got there to see him burn alive… few months back…"

Annie gasped, covering her mouth, shaking her head in denial. "No… that's not true…"

"I'm sorry… I knew your father and he was a good man. I wanted him to help me and Ian but… I fucked up…"

"Who killed him?" Ronald asked.

"His name is Jack Brown. He is… was my boss… a mobster in Milwaukee…"

Abby started to breathe rapidly and hold Ian tightly as she got another PTSD. Ian then turned to Shane. "Not now, Shane."

As soon as Abby calmed down, she whispered to Ian. "I know everything…"

Ian raised his brows but nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll tell you everything…"

Suddenly Annie collapsed and the blood puddle was slowly spreading from her side.

"Baby, no…"

Abby was shocked but suddenly her body froze and her eyes widened as a crack rang out. Abby slowly lowered her head and noticed that blood was staining her top and it was slowly spreading as her vision darkened soon enough.


	13. Love Hurts

_**Love Hurts**_

Abby collapsed on the floor, bleeding, as did Annie, before anyone had realized what happened.

"No!" Ronald yelled as he ran to his sister, instantly putting pressure on the gunshot wound. "Abby!"

"The door!" Chloe pointed and saw a man with a gun in front of the door and a black car in which were two more thugs. She grabbed Max's arm. "Max, you have to do something!"

Max shook her head. "My powers don't work on her and besides, how do you think I could have stopped it without letting anyone else getting shot?"

Chloe breathed rapidly while a small shootout was happening in front of the police station.

"Everybody hide!" Ronald yelled. Everyone took cover behind desks and the walls while gunshots went off while the other officers were apprehending the thugs.

As soon as the situation calmed down and the thugs were apprehended due to more policemen arriving, Ronald yelled. "Somebody, get a doctor! My sister's been shot!"

"And my daughter!" Tracy exclaimed in addition.

Abby was shaking uncontrollably and trying to cover the wound with her hands but Ian ran to her and put pressure on it as she screamed weakly.

"It's gonna be OK, Abs. Just stay awake, it's gonna be OK…"

"Ian…" Tears rolled down Abby's eyes as she looked into his eyes as he gently held her hand. She instantly remembered when he was with her like that when their daughter was born.

"You have no idea how much I missed you…"

"I missed you too… Just stay awake, OK? You're going to be fine, Abby."

"Don't leave me, please… I love you, Ian… I love you so much…" Abby caressed her former lover's cheek.

"I know…" Ian tried to keep it together as he nodded. "I love you too, sweetheart." Soon enough medics arrived, tending to Abby and Annie as the thugs were taken in. As soon as Ronald saw them being dragged inside as they struggled with the officers, Shane had to hold him so he would not attack them.

"I'm going to kill you, you bastards!"

"Hey, stop it, man, it's over!"

Soon enough Ronald calmed down as Max turned to each other.

"You and Annie are going to be fine, Abs." Ian promised as Max pulled out her phone and called an ambulance. They arrived soon enough while the medics in the police station were tending to both Abby and Annie. Abby was slowly broking down sobbing, remembering the pain she had to go through while she was kidnapped and again having flashback of Chloe dying in her arms. Both Max and Chloe were desperately praying for Abby to pull through as they did not want for her to go through such pain.

A few moments later an ambulance arrived and took both Annie and Abby to the hospital.

As soon as he calmed down, Ronald turned to both of his old friends, confused about why have they put him and his sister through such trouble.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Chloe held Max's arm. "We need to make sure they're going to be fine." Max nodded.

* * *

The thugs were immediately arrested and to Ian, Abby, Ronald, Shane and Annie were assigned protective details, while Abby and Annie were both in operation rooms, where the doctors were tending to their injuries.

Everyone was outside when Christine arrived when she heard that Abby was injured, all of them wrecked up and desperately praying for both of them to pull through. A few moments later a doctor was leaving the operation room.

"How are they doing?" Tracy asked as she wiped her tears.

"Your daughter has lost a lot of blood, Detective but we've managed to work on the wound. She's going to need some time and we have already arranged for transfusion."

"And my sister?" Ronald was desperate and horrified.

Ronald's and Abby's friend and also her therapist, Doctor Colin Doyle came out too and from the look in his eyes, Ronald could tell that the bad news were coming as the doctors tried to compose themselves.

Doyle took a breath. "Abby… unfortunately the bullet fragments did a lot of internal damage… she may pull through but…"

"But what, Doyle?"

Doyle took a deep breath. "I'm sorry but the fragments are dangerously close to her ovaries and if we try to pull them out… there is a more than likely chance that she may never be able to carry…"

Tracy gasped in horror as it dawned onto her while Ronald backed off, widening his eyes.

"No… you can't be serious…"

Max trembled in fear while Chloe's eyes were filling with tears. It was almost as if their entire world was crumbling down. While they enjoyed listening to Abby's stories about her daughter, right now they all have to make peace with the possibility that she may never be born.

How is Abby going to react, once she finds out?

"But… you don't know that for sure…" Max asked, trying to linger onto whatever hope there might be left.

"We're doing what we can to help her but… you better prepare yourselves for the worst. I'm sorry. In any rate, she's going to need all of you." The other doctor returned back to the operation room.

Ronald sat back in the chair, leaning his head onto his hands, as if whatever happiness there may have been in his life has suddenly vanished.

"No… This cannot be happening…"

"We'll do what we can. But I cannot guarantee that she is going to be alright." The doctor returned back into the operation room.

Ronald stood up after a few moments. "I need to get some air…"

"This is all our fault…" Ian growled, wrecked up with guilt as he looked at Shane. "I never should have come back here…"

"We're going to stop this, Ian." Tracy promised.

"Because of us your ex-boyfriend died, the girl I love might have a grim future and your daughter is in coma. All I am bringing here is pain and misery. I just wanted to keep a promise to Annie and tell her everything about her Dad.

He saved me… and I failed him…"

"No. I'm the one who fucked up…" Shane retorted. "I got him killed… and if I had told her the truth from the start…"

"It does not matter who's to blame." Max spoke up. "It's… it does not matter who caused what. Bad things happen all the time and we all make decisions we regret. All we can do is try to make the best out even the worst situation."

"She's right." Christine nodded. "Right now, we need to be here for them."

A few moments later David arrived at the hospital and he and Tracy stared at each other for a few moments.

"David?"

"Tracy?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard about the shootout…"

Ronald looked first at David, then at Tracy. "Wait, you know each other?"

Ian confirmed as he nodded. "Ash Gibson. He used to be in the army. He's mentioned you, Mr. Madsen."

David acknowledged that as he took a breath. "He saved my life. Without him, I never would have met Joyce…" Then he looked around while noticing the rest of the people as he also recognized Abby's former boyfriend and was aware that he has gotten into trouble. "What is going on?"

"It… It's all my fault…" Ian muttered as he punched into the wall. "I never should have returned back here."

Tracy, Shane, Ian and Ronald filled everyone in onto what has been happening so far, the entire time it has become. Ronald and Tracy were horrified by what was Annie going through while trying to find the truth about her father as much as Ian and Shane were shaken up by Abby almost getting shot earlier afternoon and now fighting for her life in the operation room.

David was trying to comfort Christine, Chloe and Max as they were saddened by Abby's current state.

Ronald went into a corridor behind the corner, punching a nearby wall. ' _When I find that bastard who did this, I'm gonna kill him…_ ' Tears were streaming down his cheeks, thinking about his future family but suddenly someone held his hand.

"Ron…" He turned around and saw Tracy with a comforting and understanding look.

"I can't lose her again, Trace…" Ronald swallowed hard.

"I know…"

"She… wanted… she missed Ian so much… she wanted to have a family with him and now… maybe she will not…"

"You need to be strong, for them…" Tracy held his hand. Ronald welcomed her comfort and as he realized that his friend is almost as much torn up as he is, he gently caressed her cheeks and adjusted her hair which were getting into her line of vision as she neared him and kissed Ronald and he returned the kiss back. Tracy started to take off his jacket while they both went into an empty exam room while Tracy locked the door behind them.

They both started to breathe faster and faster as Ronald unbuttoned her shirt and undid her bra while she took off his shirt, then they both lied down onto a stretcher as Tracy opened Ronald's pants as Ronald embraced Tracy in his arms and with his hands he gently grabbed her breasts and started to squeeze them as she moaned while both of them were giving into each other deeper and deeper while gasping uncontrollably.

"I… What the hell am I doing?" Ronald kissed Tracy's shoulders.

"I'm asking myself the same thing…" She giggled as she was wrapping her legs around him.

"This… this feels wrong…" Ronald said regretfully.

"Maybe it does not feel the way it should but… does it matter?" Tracy breathed out. After a few moments, both of them stared into each other's eyes. Ronald was fondling Tracy's chin and she was running her fingers down his cheek.

Suddenly, while enjoying the ecstasy of sensation, a new wave of relentless lust took both of them over as they kissed each other.

Ronald had never sought to feel this way about someone and for Tracy, she has not felt such excitement and strong feelings for someone else since her boyfriend and the father of her daughter.

Ronald then said the three words he had never expected he would have about his friend who has been looking after his sister since she was almost raped. "I love you, Tracy Parker."

Tracy stared at him for a few moments and Ronald was certain he had crossed the line but to his surprise, she kissed him.

"I love you, Ronald Powell."

Both of them kept enjoying themselves but what neither of them noticed was that in the distance the thunder roared as the dark clouds were engulfing Arcadia Bay.


	14. The Storm

_**The Storm**_

"What was Aunt Chloe like?" Abby's daughter asked as she was lying on her bed with her while Abby played a lullaby on a guitar and was going to sing.

"Well… she was… brave, stubborn, once she would make up her mind, there was no talking her out of it. Anytime she decided onto something, she got into _hella_ trouble, as she would say."

"What does ' _hella_ ' mean, Mommy?" Chloe asked, confused.

"That's something she used to say a lot. She liked that word. It was her force of habit." Abby smiled.

"Where is Aunt Chloe now? You and Aunt Max said she had to save the town and pay a price for it. How much money did she pay?"

Abby sighed as she wiped the tear off her cheek, again remembering how did her childhood friend die in her arms.

"Baby, sometimes you can't pay things with money. The world can sometimes be very complicated and bad things happen all the time.

And… to do the right one and fix the bad ones, it sometimes means that you have to abandon everyone you know and love, without an explanation or a good reason."

"Is that why Aunt Chloe is not here with you, Daddy and Aunt Max, Dana, Victoria, Kate, Cassie and Christine and Uncle Ronnie, Shane and Warren?"

Abby fondled Chloe's cheek. "Yeah. I'm sorry, honey but you will never get to meet her, as much as we all would like you to.

But remember that I love you so much and I'm never going to abandon you, no matter what, Chloe Bear." Abby then kissed Chloe on her forehead.

"I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, honey."

Abby started to play on her guitar and strummed a D-chord while she sang a lullaby and also one of her favorite songs to her daughter.

" _All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go._

 _I'm standing here outside the door,_

 _I hate to wake you up to say goodbye…_ "

* * *

In reality, Abby was in ICU, with an oxygen mask on her face and under sedation after surgery. Max, Chloe and Christine were sitting next to her, waiting for her to wake up, while Ian and Shane had to give their statements to the police.

Chloe let on Abby's desk an envelope with a message she wrote during her time, while she was trying to process the knowledge about the future Abby had told her.

But they all had to prepare themselves to tell her the bad news, that in the shooting incident she may have become infertile and they were frightened to even imagine Abby's reaction, considering her PTSD.

"It's going to tear her up." Max sniffed as she held Abby's hand.

"You have no idea, Max…" Chloe looked at Max with an understanding look. "You did not see how wrecked up she was after…" Chloe grabbed Max by her arm and squeezed it as Max nodded in understanding, Chloe was hinting the raping incident.

"She spent almost a year here before they let her go… sleepless nights, hundreds of moments having panic attacks, I thought she'd bust out of here and scratch the eyes of anyone who would touch her when she flipped, she almost screamed her lungs out a few dozens of times.

I don't even want to think about how she reacts after this when she wakes up…"

"Jesus…" Max gasped.

"Max…" Christine gave Max an imploring look. "You said you can time travel through the pictures, right?" Max nodded. "Can you… fix this?"

Max widened her eyes slightly and she flinched, backing off. "Are you serious? After what happened because Abby tried to save Chloe?" She glanced at both of her childhood friends.

"But…"

"Max…" Chloe grabbed her. "I don't care. We can't let her suffer like this. If we have a chance to fix this, why not use it?"

"Because in the end, things will turn out worse than better! That's why the storm almost destroyed the town!" Max hissed.

"That's why you let me die…" Chloe gasped, realizing what would be the consequences.

"You think I don't want to help her?" Max started to sob, she was on the verge of tears. "Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? How hard it was for me to decide to let you die?"

Chloe tried to undo the damage, realizing the toll of the time travel. "Max… I… I'm sorry… I did not mean…"

"I even saved your Dad to make things right for you, Chloe…"

Chloe widened her eyes while Christine exclaimed. "What?!"

"You… you…" Chloe was lost for words.

"I stopped him from leaving that day… but I totally fucked it all up… and made it all worse for everyone…" Max covered her face, filled with guilt. Christine came to Max and held her shoulder as she sat next to her.

"It's OK, Max. Talk to us. What happened?"

"I… saved William but… Abby was dead and you… you ended up paralyzed, Chloe…"

"Abby died?" Christine gasped and Max nodded, choking out for a few minutes before she got a hold of herself.

"When I realized how much did I mess everything up, I… I undid it all… I let William take that stupid car…"

Suddenly, it hit Chloe like a truck. "Jesus, back then when you were crying and you said you would never leave me…"

Max nodded. "I can't fix things without fucking something else up, don't you get it, Chloe?" Her eyes were full of pain, guilt and loneliness.

Chloe and Christine hugged Max. It seemed as the only way to comfort her. All of the girls lost it, breaking down in sobbing. But the moment did not last as they heard the thunder in the distance and looked outside the window.

There was a storm coming their way. "No, that can't be… it was supposed to be at Friday…"

"Maybe it was because Abby saved me…"

"What are we going to do?" Christine asked. At the moment, the girls were horrified, despaired and helpless.

* * *

Ronald and Tracy were lying next to each other on the stretcher as Ronald combed Tracy's long blonde hair with his fingers. She touched his muscular arm as they looked at each other with new understanding and emotions, confessing their feelings to each other.

"I never thought we'd be where we are now…" Ronald whispered.

Tracy looked him in the eyes and kissed him again. "Neither did I. I've cared about you and Abby for a long time, Ronald. I wanted Ash in my life but… we were never meant to be…

He was too afraid to settle down…"

"I'm sorry about what happened… my friend failed your family…" Ronald ran his fingers on the skin of Tracy's back. "And now my sister…"

"Bad stuff happens all the time…"

"You have no idea…" He kissed her again.

"What do you mean…"

"Don't worry about that right now…" But suddenly Ronald heard the thunder outside as he kissed her and the lights started to flicker. Ronald let Tracy go and zipped on his pants while he looked outside the window, seeing the dark clouds with lightnings nearing upon the town. "What the hell?"

"Ron, what's going on?" Tracy asked.

"Shit." Ronald grabbed his shirt and jacket. "Tracy, I think the storm is coming towards the town, get emergency services, now." Tracy frowned for a moment. "I mean it!" Suddenly the hospital blacked out for about a half a minute. Tracy started to take Ronald seriously and grabbed her phone from the pocket in her shirt.

"This is Detective Tracy Parker. We have a citywide emergency! Code grey! I repeat, citywide emergency, code grey!" As soon as she hung up, she turned to Ronald. "What the hell is going on here?"

Ronald took a breath. "We need to get my sister and your daughter out of here." Tracy nodded and as soon as both of them dressed up, they ran out of the exam room and Ronald went to Abby's room while Tracy went to her daughter's room.

Ronald burst in as Max, Chloe and Christine turned to him. "Girls, we need to…"

"We know!"

Ronald nodded and called out. "Hello! Can somebody help us here?"

A few moments later a doctor arrived. "What is going…"

Ronald pointed to the window and as the doctor saw a utility pole fall down in the distance, causing the entire hospital to black out for a moment again, he nodded in understanding before the backup generator started working.

"I'll arrange for evacuations now…" He ran from the corridor before nurses came in and took Abby's stretcher, taking her down to the garage where the ambulances were.

Tracy ran to her daughter's room when she woke up. "Mom…"

"Honey, we need to go…"

Annie tried to get up but she screamed in pain weakly with the infusion bag attached to her side. "I'm sorry I did not listen to you, Mom…"

"I get that you wanted to know the truth, baby but don't worry about that now…"

"I… I just wanted to find out what happened…" Annie started to shed tears of guilt. "Why didn't you tell him about me?"

"I had no idea where he was…" Tracy started to cry as well. "And when the feds called me…" Tracy broke down in tears as did Annie while they embraced each other.

"I'm so sorry, Mom…"

A nurse knocked on door. "Detective, we need to take your daughter." Tracy nodded as the doctors took Annie on the stretcher and were taking her away into an ambulance. At the lobby, Tracy met David.

"Is your daughter…"

"We need to go."

Annie stared for a moment at David. "You… you knew my Dad?"

"You're… Annie, right? Ash's daughter."

"Not now." Tracy cut them off.

"Mom, I need to know about…"

"It's OK. I'll go with her. You get Abby out of here." David held her arm, Tracy turned around and noticed Ronald, Max, Chloe, Christine, Shane, Ian and Doyle with Abby on a stretcher.

"David, Doyle, you and I will go with Annie, the rest, look after Abby." They all nodded. But then she pointed at Shane. "You, take Max and Chloe out of here."

Chloe shook her head. "No! I'm not leaving her!"

"Neither am I!" Max agreed.

"There's no time to argue, come on!" Shane grabbed Max by her arm and she eventually gave in, not wanting to waste more time and Chloe went with her.

The rest entered the two ambulances.

* * *

Unfortunately, Shane's car got stuck in a traffic jam as it started to rain ferociously. It was like cry of all the gods in the universe as the roads got flooded in a few minutes.

"Fuck. We gotta get out of here, now." Max panicked.

"I'll try to find a way around, don't worry, Max." Shane tried to reassure himself more than the girls.

As Max and Chloe looked outside the window, they saw debris and leaves and branches spinning in a spiral in the distance and the thundering in the distance.

"Shane…" He turned his head as Chloe whispered.

"Oh, shit!" Shane put reverse on the gear stick and tried to find another way out as he drove into an alley. There was a tornado slowly drawing towards the town.

"Get us out of here!" Chloe exclaimed.

Shane found a free road and was about to drive towards it but then he saw a familiar black BMV with a familiar face in the driver's wheel as he turned around, on his face vicious smile.

 _Jack Brown._

"Shane, what are you…" Chloe was cut off by the car ramming from behind.

"Hang on, girls! And keep your heads low!" Shane hit the gas and started to drive away as the high-speed chase began.

"Who the fuck is this guy?!" Chloe yelled while Jack was relentlessly ramming Shane's car from behind.

"Not now, Chloe!" Shane retorted.

Suddenly Max yelled. "Shane, go to the alley on the right!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Chloe smiled at Max, realizing why would she suggest that.

Shane turned the wheel to the narrow alley and hit the gas on the floor, trying to keep bigger and bigger distance from his former boss who wanted both him and his friends dead. Shane also wanted to avenge the good man who saved his and Ian's life. Suddenly, as Jack followed them, a gas pipe under his car exploded as the smoke blurred his windshield and he drove into a trash bin.

"Did we lose him?" Shane yelled.

"Yeah!" Max nodded.

"Nicely done, Super Max!" Chloe and Max high-fived.

"We're not out of the woods yet, girls…" Shane muttered.

A lightning struck a power lining in front of them as it blocked the road and Shane had to hit the break. Shane frantically looked around for another way out but they would not get anywhere with the car. "We gotta go on foot!"

Max and Chloe nodded and left the car but suddenly the road under them collapsed, a few feet from the car and Chloe started to fall as she held onto the door handle.

"Chloe!" Max exclaimed.

"Max! Help me!" Chloe screamed.

"Don't move, Chloe!" Max paced carefully onto the edge of the car and stretched her arm, while Shane was holding Max's other hand. "Take my hand!"

Chloe tried to grab Max as she held onto the car handle with her other hand. "I can't reach you, Max!"

"We need to get little closer, Max!" Shane and Max paced a little more carefully to the edge of the hole.

Max then saw the sewer under her damaged and she got an idea. "Chloe! You need to jump!" She pointed at the platform, which led to the sewer underneath them.

"Are you sure?!"

"Trust me, Chloe!"

Chloe nodded, then she rocked on the handle like a professional gymnast and once she got sufficient inertia, she jumped while the car fell down with another piece of the road falling apart. Unfortunately, it also took away the edge on which was Max standing as she stumbled and vanished into the darkness beneath her, screaming.

"Max! No!" Shane yelled while Chloe covered her mouth, gasping in horror, then breaking down in tears. First, she lost Rachel, now Max, and Abby might not survive.

* * *

Abby slowly opened her eyes and noticed she was inside an ambulance while she felt tremors inside as well.

She felt a hand holding her own as she turned to…

" _Ian…_ " She gasped weakly through the oxygen mask.

Ian felt Abby's fingers moving in his hand. "Abby…" He widened his eyes.

"Hey there… I missed you…"

"I missed you too, honey." They both looked at each other with the familiar deep feelings towards each other.

Abby did her best to talk despite the sedation and pain surging in her body. "Where are we…"

"Don't… just rest, OK…"

Abby then realized that the pain was coming from her abdomen. To be more accurate, it came from the same spot where did it hurt when she went into labor in the original timeline but the pain was very different this time and she was slowly realizing what that meant.

"It's going to be fine, Abby… We're going to get you to a hospital somewhere else where they can help you…"

Abby realized that the raindrops were hitting the ambulance with vehemence, which meant only one thing.

' _What was the point of all of this when I just made things worse? Did I go back just to let Chloe die again? Was all of this for nothing?_ ' She started to cry weakly. "I can't lose my family…"

"You're not…" Ronald held her hand. Abby then noticed the look in his eyes and the smile on his face. It was the same expression Ian had whenever he looked at her and she also remembered Chloe smiling like that when she had thought about Rachel.

"Who did you fall for?" Abby chuckled despite the pain.

"Just rest, OK?" Ronald caressed her head.

"Tracy?" Abby guessed. Ronald bit his lip as she laughed weakly. "I knew you two would get together…"

Ronald felt awkward. "You mean that we have not…"

Abby shook her head. "She left with Annie…"

"Wait a minute… you fell in love with the cop who sent to juvie?" Ian laughed at the irony.

Abby then noticed an envelope on the table on her right from Chloe. "What is this?"

"Just rest, OK?"

Suddenly the ambulance got into a skid and the physical force threw Ronald and Ian to the walls while Abby fell off the stretcher, screaming in pain. The ambulance was spinning around on the road and before the driver could take control, he was driving down the ditch into the river while Abby lost consciousness again, helplessly floating in the water.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _So, I hope you have been enjoying this so far. Sorry if this was not as much exciting as my previous fanfiction novel **Our Lives are Strange**. The general idea of this was to test what would happen if Abby got another chance and go back to the start. I also wanted to give Ronald a character which he could romance._

 _Unfortunately, the next chapter is also going to be the last._

 _Please, I would like to know your opinions in the reviews._

 _With regards_

 ** _Bl4ckHunter_**


	15. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

When Abby woke up, she washed up on the shore of the beach as she realized she felt the sand on her bare skin while the waves washing her face were waking her up slowly as she opened her eyes, also noticed that she was back on the beach, bruised and almost naked as she realized that the salty water was hurting her on some parts of her body and she realized that her swimsuit was ripped in shreds.

As she was trying to get a hold of herself, her vision was blurred but she saw somebody running to her and she instantly recognized the voices while someone else put a blanket on her shoulder.

"This is Officer Berry. We found her. She's messed up a bit but she will be fine. We're on our way back."

David sighed with relief. "Holy God, Abby. Do you have any idea how much did you scare us all? Half of the town has been looking for you the whole day."

Abby was too weak to reply as she just simply nodded and whispered. "Home…"

"Don't worry. We'll get you back home. But a doctor should take a look at you first." David took Abby and put her to the passenger seat as he sat behind the wheel. "Ian and Ronald are going to be glad you're OK, Abby. You scared the hell out of them."

Abby remembered the letter from Chloe which she saw in the ambulance as she said weakly. " _Chloe…_ "

"She's at Masters'. The twins and Max and Warren are looking after her. Don't worry. She's OK." David smiled and reassured Abby.

Abby nodded as she shed a tear again as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. If she's back with her daughter, that means only one thing… _Chloe Price is dead. Why? What was the point of all of this if she had to die in the end once again?_

"You'll see her soon, I promise, Abby…"

* * *

Abby passed out again for a moment and when she woke up, she was in a hospital, bandage wrapped around her, again feeling the pain on her entire body after the gunshot and the ambulance crash. She turned her head to her side and noticed that Max was sitting next to her, with a book in her hands and eyes closed and on her knees was sleeping a little girl.

Abby realized that it was… " _Chloe…_ " Abby smiled and Max woke up slowly as she rubbed her eyes.

"Hey…" Max then wiped her face to wake up fully. "Wowser, Abby, where the hell have you been the whole day? And what happened to you, for Christ's sakes? Everyone was freaking out and worried that you would end up like Rachel!" Max hissed, not wanting to wake up Chloe.

Abby stretched her arms. "Just give her to me, please…"

Max nodded and gently shook Abby's daughter. "Hey, honey. Look who woke up."

Chloe raised her head and rubbed her eyes as she looked at her mother and laughed. "Mommy…"

"Come here, Chloe Bear…" Max handed Abby's daughter to her as she hugged her tightly, letting out a weak scream as her body started to hurt again.

"Mommy, where did you go? I thought you were going to leave me like Aunt Chloe did."

Abby smiled at her daughter as she kissed her on her cheek and hugged her tightly. "Never, baby. I'm so sorry. I… I didn't want to leave you, I… I just got lost and could not find a way back home… and… I met some old friends and lost track of time.

But I'm back, OK? I promise I'm not going to leaving you for a long time…"

Her daughter nodded and smiled. "Did you visit Aunt Chloe?"

Abby nodded. "Yeah. I did meet her."

"When can I see her, Mommy?"

Max sighed. "Sweetie, I thought we had explained it to you…"

"One day you will get to meet her. One day she will visit you here…" Abby pointed at her daughter's forehead and her chest, her heart. "When you will be expecting it the least." Then she noticed that on her left was an envelope for her. She recognized Chloe Price's handwriting. "What is it, Max?"

Max blushed for a moment. "I… I found it in a box full of your old stuff from Blackwell when I wanted to show Chloe our old photos. I did not mean to be nosy. It was not opened. I did not read it, I swear."

Abby opened the envelope and read the letter.

" _Hey Abby._

 _I don't know if you ever get the chance to read this, assuming you will ever wake up. I just want to say that as much as I appreciate that you want to make it up to me that you had to leave me, I don't want you to sacrifice your own happiness just to make sure that I'm going to be OK._

 _You've already been through so much shit already and deserve to be happy with your friends and your family._

 _Look, I'm going to cut to the chase. Sure, I am hella mad that you've been keeping your distance from me for the last few months but you have shown that despite everything you still love me and so far, I have repaid it to you by throwing some nasty shit at your and Ron's faces. Can't say I blame you for keeping your distance._

 _I guess what I'm trying to say is that you being happy and OK means as much to me as it means to you to see me being happy and OK which we both know is not possible without everyone else's lives going to shit._

 _You're my friend, Abby. You, Ronnie and Max have been my best friends my entire life, despite everything that has happened between us._

 _I wish I could still be a part of your life and be a good influence on it until the end but I suppose that as long as I am fine and around you, no one else is going to be OK._

 _I'm sorry for being mad at you all that time. Considering what have you gone through, you deserved better from me._

 _Now that I look back, all I have been doing with my life since Dad was drowning into deeper and deeper shit with Annie._

 _We all have been through so much together already and I know for sure that whatever happens, I will never truly hate you, whatever may or may not happen between us and despite what I might tell you otherwise and I want you to be happy and I'll do my best to make you smile again, even if I will probably fuck it all up in the end._

 _I want you to know that in case nothing in your life is ever going to be the same as it was. You and your family especially deserves better than this._

 _Know that I will always love you all and no matter where we will end up, all of you will always be in my thoughts, in this life and the life beyond when I will join my Dad and Rachel one day._

 _Whatever it may have been that I was mad at you about, I forgive you._

 _Chloe Price_ "

Tears falling down from Abby's eyes were slowly staining the words on the paper as she read the letter.

"Are you OK, Abby?"

Abby handed her the letter and as Max read the words, her eyes started to fill with tears once again. Max covered her mouth. "I… I always thought she must have been mad at us all the time when I undid it all…"

"I guess there was still a part of her that could not let go of us completely." Abby chuckled. Then she remembered about Tracy. _Ronald had fallen in love with her._

"What is it, Mommy?" Abby's daughter asked.

"It… nothing. I'll tell you when you're older, Chloe Bear." She fondled Chloe's hair.

"Just like you will explain better what happened to Aunt Chloe?" Her daughter asked innocently while Abby nodded. Then suddenly, her brother and Ian entered the room as they both hugged Abby with bear strength as she screamed weakly.

"Jesus, Abby, what the hell happened to you?"

"Thank God you're OK. Where did you go?"

"Agh, guys, seriously!"

"Sorry…" Ian and Ronald let her go.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to scare you." Abby said as she held Ian's arm.

"Daddy, Mommy said she visited Aunt Chloe and got lost."

"What?" They both hissed and widened their eyes in confusion.

Abby mouthed. " _Complicated._ " Ronald and Ian nodded in understanding.

Abby then looked at Ronald. "Hey, Ron. Could you please call Tracy?"

Ronald raised his brows surprised. " _Tracy Parker_? Why? I mean, we have not talked since the funeral…"

"I… I guess I miss her and Annie… after seeing you here…" Abby glanced at Chloe again as Ronald nodded in understanding.

"Wait, Parker, that name rings a bell…" Ian then suddenly remembered. "Ash's ex-girlfriend?"

"Who?" Max asked, confused.

"Ash helped me take down the mobs, with Uncle Shane." Ian explained.

"The bad guys who wanted to hurt Mommy and you, Daddy?" Chloe asked innocently.

"Yeah. He saved me." Ian nodded.

Abby then pointed at her brother who came to her and she whispered to his ear. " _Go on a date with her._ "

"With _Tracy Parker_?" Ronald laughed. "You're kidding, right? You want _me_ to go out with the woman that used to babysit us, whom did I stare at her belly after her kid was born when I was a dumb, curious nut and you were a toddler?"

"Who's Tracy?" Max asked.

"A cop which, together with Berry, used to look after Abby when we both were… away." Ronald explained, not wanting to tell the details in front of Chloe. Then he whispered to Abby's ear. "Look, I like her, yeah but…"

"I know, Ronald. But maybe you two might be more attracted to each other than you both want to admit." Abby suggested.

Ronald shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it wouldn't harm to hang out with her." Ronald then went out and pulled out his phone, dialing her number.

" _Hello?_ "

"Trace, it's Ron." He said calmly.

Tracy was caught off-guard for a few moments as she laughed later on. " _Oh, hi Ron. Gosh, it's… it's been three years since…_ "

"I know, since the funeral… How's Annie doing?"

" _She's OK. She finally got enrolled to college. Well, on the third attempt, anyway..._ " Tracy laughed as Ronald chuckled.

"Look, I was thinking, do you think we could… catch up?" Ronald asked awkwardly. "Abby got into some trouble today and…"

" _Is she OK?_ " Tracy sounded scared for a moment.

"She'll be fine, don't worry. But… she kind of reminded me that we have not talked for a while and I've been thinking that…"

" _I'd like to, Ron._ " Tracy replied instantly. " _Honestly, I missed you guys too. I'm on retirement now and I've got some free time. I'll be seeing you tomorrow, I just need to let Annie know that we'll be visiting you guys soon._ "

Then Ronald remembered something else. "And do you and Annie know what happened to Ash?"

" _Yeah. Shane, David and Ian told us everything after Chloe's funeral. It messed Annie up big time. But at least she has some good memories about him._ "

"I can imagine. I'm so sorry, Trace." Ronald remembered how much Chloe was torn up when she was told about her father's accident eight years ago.

" _OK. See you tomorrow. Bye._ "

Ronald smiled and felt something new rising inside of him. Some new kind of happiness and he had no idea what it was. He was about to find out soon enough.

* * *

A few days later Abby was released from the hospital, walking with a crutch and at the entrance was waiting her boyfriend, her brother, daughter and her two best friends in Powell's family car.

Out of the sudden, Abby asked Ian. "Can you take us to the cemetery?"

Ian seemed surprised for a moment but he nodded. Abby walked with her daughter and her brother to the gravestone where was carved:

* * *

 _CHLOE ELIZABETH PRICE_

 _March 11_ _th_ _, 1994 – October 7_ _th_ _, 2013_

 _Beloved Daughter and Friend_

* * *

"This is where Aunt Chloe is now, honey." She hugged her daughter from behind.

"She lives here?"

"Not exactly, sweetie. This is where everyone ends up eventually." Ronald explained.

"This is where we go to Heaven after we die?"

"One day… But it's too soon to go, honey. We still have a lot to live for and there's so many people that care about us and we care about them." Abby tightened the hug. "You have no idea how much I love you, Chloe…"

"I love you too, Mom…"

Ronald fondled his sister's and his niece's hair when he noticed in the distance someone else walking towards another grave. A woman in her early 30s and a teenage girl, about eighteen years old.

Ronald approached them from behind. "Hey."

Tracy and Annie turned around. "Ron, hey." The mother and daughter hugged him. Ronald noticed that the grave that they were visiting was decorated with stars for soldiers. It was of Tracy's boyfriend and Annie's father. _Ash Gibson._

"Look, I…" Ronald was interrupted as Tracy grabbed his head and kissed him passionately. At first Ronald was caught off guard but he gave in soon enough and gently grabbed Tracy by her shoulders as he kissed her back.

As he let go, he felt awkward. "Wow. I missed you too but…"

"I've been waiting for years to tell you that…"

Annie rolled her eyes. "Mom… How could you have fallen for this one of all the people? It's like if you're kissing my brother, he was in juvie with me…"

"What?" Ronald seemed confused.

"Ronald, you're a good man." Tracy pressed on his chest. "I've always known that and you look after your family. Almost as much as Ash used to look after me. I… I wanted to tell you that on Chloe's funeral but I guess I was too scared to admit it and move on back then…

You always try to help those who are hurt and lost… You've always cared about me and my daughter…

I… I…"

Ronald held her hand and kissed her too. "I love you too, Trace." After a few moments of passion, with Annie watching in disgust at first but then in amusement, they all walked with Abby and the rest of Powell family away from the graveyard.

* * *

 _ **THE END**_


End file.
